John Joseph Murphy (May 13, 1849 – August 4, 1938) was a businessman and politician. He represented

Harbour Main Harbour Main, formerly Harbour Main-Whitbourne and Harbour Main-Bell Island, is a provincial electoral district for the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to 1975, the district elected two MHAs. Between 1972 and the ...

in the

Newfoundland House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Building in St. Jo ...

from 1908 to 1913 as a People's Party member.

Biography

The son of James Murphy, a ship's captain, and Alice McDonald, he was born at

Catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

and was educated at

Saint Bonaventure's College St. Bonaventure's College (commonly called St. Bon's) is an independent kindergarten to grade 12 Catholic School in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is located in the St. John's Ecclesiastical District, adjacent to the Roman Cat ...

. In 1869, he became manager of the

Greenspond Greenspond is a community in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Greenspond is one of the communities that comprise an area called Bonavista North, in Bonavista Bay, on the northeast coast of the Island of Newfoundland. These ...

branch of the firm Ridley and Sons. From 1871 to 1876, Murphy operated his own fishery supply business. In 1876, he established a shipbuilding company and sawmill at Gambo. In 1893, he built a hotel in Gambo. He sold his sawmill and timber cutting rights to Newfoundland Timber Estates in 1904. By 1914, he had become majority share-holder for United Towns Electric Company; he was elected company president the following year. In 1919, he formed the Avalon Telephone Company. In 1932, he set up the Dominion Broadcasting Company and radio station

VONF CBN (640 kHz) is a public AM radio station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It carries a news, talk and information format and is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CBN is powered at 10,000 ...

. Murphy did not run for reelection to the Newfoundland assembly in 1913. However, he was named to the Legislative Council later that year and served there until 1934. Murphy died in St. John's at the age of 89.

References

1849 births 1938 deaths Newfoundland People's Party MHAs Members of the Legislative Council of Newfoundland Dominion of Newfoundland politicians People from Trinity Bay North {{Newfoundland-politician-stub