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Record #5920
Name :
: John MURPHY (1942 - )


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 1942 (approx.)

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 10 Jun 1952
Country
: Australia

Ship
: Ormonde

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Fairbridge Homes
NotesIn 1952, J. Murphy, 10 (along with brothers, B. Murphy, 12; and R. Murphy, 8), arrived at Fremantle, Australia, in a group of children c/o Fr. Nichol, 16A St. Stephens House, Westminter, England and en route to Fremantle and Melbourne, Australia.

The West Australian reported on July 4, 1992:

"Paternal quest links brothers to new family

On May 1, 1952, three excited young boys gathered with their father at St Pancras Station in London.

It was a very special day for Bernard, John and Raymond Murphy (12, 10 and 8 respectively) who had spent most of the preceding six or seven years in child-care institutions, with only occasional visits from their dad.

But, now, at his suggestions, they were off to Australia.

His last words 'see you in three years, sons' provided all the comfort and promise the boys needed as the train moved off toward Tilbury Dock and the waiting passenger ship, Ormonde.

Tragically, the boys would never see or hear from their father again.

They would disappear among the thousands of child migrants sent to Australia after World War II under government-sponsored programs now considered to be of very dubious legal or moral basis.

For 40 years they would not know why their father failed to keep that promise and left them feeling abandoned in a harsh and miserable new environment.

In fact, they would know very little about him, except for the uniform worn when visiting them in the institutions.

And they would know nothing about their mother and her three daughters (their half-sisters) while they were in the institutions and unaware of their parents' separation.

After reaching Fremantle, the boys went first to Clontarf and then Bindoon, the controversial boys' home founded by the Christian Brothers.

During the next four decades, they tried in vain to trace their father through organisations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

But now the mystery of their past appears to be [en] solved though, sadly, too late for Raymond, who died aged 16 in a collision between his bicycle and a milk truck in central Perth.

Last week, the found and director of the charity-based Child Migrants Trust (London), Margaret Humphreys, visited John, now 50, and Bernard, 52, in Perth to tell them her organisation had pieced together the puzzle.

Ms. Humphreys had been asked by both men, about five years ago, to help trace their roots.

The trust found:

Their RAF drill instructor father, James, separated from their mother, Eileen, in the early 1940's.

When their mother was apparently unable to cope with them after the separation, the boys were place (by their father) [in the institutions].

When their father remarried in 1949, with the boys in institutions, he concealed his sonns' existence from his new wife.

In 1954, two years after the boys left for Australia, their father died of cancer.

Their mother died just five years ago of a heart condition. On her death bed, she told her grandson's girlfriend that she had three sons but did not know where they were.

By that time, one of her three daughters had died.

The other two, the youngest of whom is 42, were left to wonder about their half-brothers until Margaret Humphreys also gave them some answers.

Bernard, a self-employed painter, is married and has adult twins, aged 24. He said yesterday: 'I have no ill-will against either of my parents. I think I misjudged my father, who might have known he had cancer when he sent us out here and thought it was for the best.'

John, an invalid pensioner, has three children aged 25, 23, and 20. Two of them are adopted for very good reason.

'After the years I spent in homes I didn't want any other kids to go through the same thing, if possible. I have no bitterness about the past. What's done is done.

'Our next step is to get to the UK...'" 
ContributorsCreated : 2009-03-28 17:21:21 / From original database

Last Updated :

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Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries        
Page: [1] 2 3 77 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
27391 ARTHUR, James Lafferty1940ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27393 ASHWORTH, Gordon Herbert Charles1943ENG, HAM, Alton Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27392 ASHWORTH, Maurice Benedict1941ENG, HAM, Aldershot Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27401 BANNISTER, Trevor1931ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
27388 BELL, John George ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27389 BELL, Joyce1938ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27390 BELL, Rosalind Barbara1937ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27402 BELL, William1932ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
27400 BODDEY, Peter Ernest1932ENG, LND, Wandsworth Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
27378 BROOKER, Peter Rowland1932ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
27403 BROWN, Douglas W1932ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
26990 BULL, George1908ENG,     May 1921 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
21142 BULL, John1911ENG,     May 1921 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26991 CHAMBERLAIN, Leonard C1911ENG,     May 1921 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5458 COLE, Gwen1942ENG, LIN, Grimsby Jun 1952 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27404 CORMACK, Alexander1931ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
27384 COX, David ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27405 DI CARLO, Vincenzo1932 Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
5582 DIXON, John1940ENG,     May 1950 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27385 DODDS, Avril Rose1937ENG, MDX, Edmonton Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27386 DODDS, Edith Hannah1939ENG, MDX, Edmonton Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27387 DODDS, Michael David1940ENG, MDX, Edmonton Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27406 DONALDSON, James1932ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
27407 EAGLE, Sidney1932 Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
21147 ELLIOTT, Albert Cecil1909ENG, BRK, Abingdon May 1921 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
21146 ELLIOTT, Evelyn Violet1910ENG, BRK, Reading May 1921 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
21145 ELLIOTT, Hilda Gladys1908ENG, BRK, Reading May 1921 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5585 ELLISON, Brian1943ENG, NBL, Northumberland City May 1950 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27408 FAGG, Rodney1931ENG, LND, Lambeth Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
27409 FELL, Raymond1932ENG, HAM, Portsmouth Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Big Brother Movement  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 77 Entries        
Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries