| Notes |
- John Good Murphy came from the Town of Wexford, Ireland, which is in the southeast corner of Ireland, below Cork. Due to the English influence in that area, they were Protestants.
John first served as a Light Dragoon under Captain James Boyd in Wexford in June 1798 after the rebel attack in the town.
John acquired a commission in the British Army when his Grandfather Laurence paid One Hundred Guineas (or $500.00 in Canadian Currency) for the said commission.
John states that he served in Majorca,Egypt, and Malta.
A book entitled "1839 List of Officers of the British Army and Royal Navy - refer to Page 430 - a John Good Murphy, as at October 23,1800, was in the 54th Regiment of Foot at the rank of Ensign.
According to Irene Murphy, she relates the story that John went to France to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, and while there, he received a severe head wound, and afterward, had to wear a silver plate on top of his head.
At times this affected his mind, and his father, Sir Lawrence Murphy, because of his position of authority, was rather ashamed of him, so Captain John was sent to Canada. This may be family lore!!
John was educated as a lawyer in England. If it had not been for his drinking, he might have been a Judge on the Bench in Canada.
The redoubtable John Good Murphy, fought a duel and he shot his opponent's thumb off, this drew blood and settled the quarrel.
The Marquis, whose title was next under the Duke, owned a large tract of land given to him by the Government. John rented a certain amount of this land from the Marquis, and he would pasture his cows in one paddock until one (1) firkin was filled with butter, so that the flavour of the butter would not be changed. A firkin equalled one of our barrels.
The Government gave a Coat of Arms to a Goodmurphy for excelling in growing wheat. The Crest, of beaten gold, was a Rampant Lion with a sheaf of wheat in his front paws.
As to his getting married, he fell in love with one Deborah Davis and married her, she being carried to church on her wedding day, by two servants, in a sedan chair. Deborah was a Quaker by prrofession.
Deborah was required to sort the clothes to go to the wash. It seemed that Deborah did not know much about building fires, which were sometimes needed in Ireland, because one time she put a coal of fire in her apron and nearly set the house on fire.
John was induced by his wife Deborah to go on Half Pay.
John left for Canada with his family, except for his oldest son, William, who elected to stay in Ireland with his grandparents.
John and his family were on a sailing vessel for three months on the ocean, were nearly shipwrecked, but landed safely at last in Kingston, Ontario, which then, was but a small town.
Library and Archives Canada has possession of a letter written on May 21, 1822, wherein John Good Murphy reports his arival with his family at Quebec City. They must have left about February 1822.
From Quebec City they would have travelled on to Kingston.
John made arrangements in Kingston to apprentice his son Lawrence to a man by the name of Carl, as a Shoemaker. The arrangement stipulated that Lawrence would apprentice for three (3) years, then when he was finished, he was to get a suit of clothes and some money.
Having made these arrangements, John and Deborah, and the rest of the children, were to have meandered along towards the west, arriving at Smokeville (now Wellington). The inhabitants at that time were few and far between, but just the same, they had two hotels where whiskey was sold.
John had Kingston as his address when he wrote a letter to the Lieutenant Governor on September 2nd 1822, advising him that he had not received his promised grant of land.
It is believed that John and his family moved from Kingston to Wellington sometime after Sept 1822, with John possibly retaining a temporary residence in Kingston.
Marriage records show that sons John C. and Richard were residents of Wellington, when they were married in 1832.
John's name is on the 1829 Petition to make the Prince Edward a separate District.
In July 1833, John was in Wellington, placing ads in the Hallowell Free Press, with regards to Village lots for sale.
He placed a followup ad in January 1834. It is presumed that he was acting on behalf of the Crown vis a viz the sale of these lots.
The 1833 ad on July 30, 1833, used the name of John G. Murphy, Senior, H.P. 54th Regiment, Colbourne Street, Wellington, Ontario.
The ad on January 1, 1834 was placed by John Good Murphy, H.P. 54th Reg't, Cooleys Hotel on Colborne St in Wellington. Note the change in surnames !!!
John placed an ad in the Patriot and Farners Monitor (York Edition - see August 16th 1833 Issue) indicating that he was planning to proceed to Toronto (York) to locate his granted land.
The ad ran until the November 22nd edition. The ad states that the family has been in Upper Canada for 11 years (that gives an arrival year of 1822).
John presumably took up his grant of land in 1833 or later. Three (3) lots in Collingwood Township, in Grey County.
Apparently Collingwood Twp was not surveyed until 1835, and it is felt that these properties were taken for investment purposes.
The properties were granted to John's oldest son William Davis, upon his death. William then sold off these properties.
There is no evidence to support that the family moved away from Prince Edward County. To the contrary, Lawrence, John, Richard, and Davis all stayed in the County. Thomas moved to Northumberland County.
There is so far, no more record of John and his whereabouts, but he obviously died between 1844 and 1848, as Deborah is widowed in 1848.
In 1842, Deborah is found to be living in Percy Twp, near Warkworth, with her are two single males, deemed to be Gilbert and Francis, her two youngest children, who were born in 1823 and 1825, respectively. The prior child, Margurete (Peggy) was married in September 1839. Deborah was liviing at Lot 20 - South Half - Conc. 5, which she acquired from the Forsyth brothers on October 21, 1844. It is not known when John and Deborah moved the family to Percy Twp, but it may have been after Margurete was married in September 1839.
Deborah sold her property to her son Gilbert on March 18, 1848 and by that time she was a Widow, but the exact month/year of John's death is unknown at this time.
It is presumed that Deborah passed away between 1848 and 1850 as she is not listed on the 1850 Census for Percy Twp.
Francis relocated to Ameliasburg Twp, P.E. County in 1860 and Gilbert relocated to Hillier Twp in later 1863 or early 1864.
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Abt 1782 - 1848 (60 years)