James_Laurence_Murphy
James Laurence Murphy
Australian politician
James Laurence Murphy (c. 1860 – 17 February 1942) was an Irish-born Australian politician.
Murphy was born in County Cork to farmer Laurence Murphy and Mary Flynn. In the early 1880s he migrated to Victoria, and worked as a traveller before becoming a cordial manufacturer in the early 1890s, after going into partnership with cordial manufacturer Joseph Plummer as Plummer, Murphy & Co. On 11 January 1892 he married schoolteacher Margaret O'Flaherty.[1][2]
A member of the Labor Party, he served on South Melbourne City Council from 1904 to 1942, and was mayor from 1910 to 1911.[1] He was South Melbourne representative on the Harbour Trust from 1910 to 1913.[3]
In 1917 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Port Melbourne after successfully challenging incumbent MP Owen Sinclair for Labor preselection, and represented the seat until his death.[4][1] He was credited with key roles in the establishment of the Fair Rents Court, having repeatedly tried to introduce a private member's bill for many years prior to its adoption by his government, as well as in the development of housing at Fishermans Bend. Alongside his parliamentary role, he was a member of the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board from 1940 to his death and its chairman in 1941.[3][5][6]
He died at his South Melbourne home in February 1942 after a short illness, and was buried at Melbourne General Cemetery.[3]