Denis Murphy was born on 25 March 1858 at Inchor, Ballyagran, County Limerick, Ireland, and arrived in South Australia by the ship Nebo in 1882. He was employed on various farms at Petersburg [now Peterborough] for about twelve months, followed by two years at Yongala before coming to Colton on the West Coast.

When the Calca lands were opened for selection he took up Sections 149, 150, 151, 152, 171, 172, 173, 192, 194, 195, Hundred of Rounsevell in 1889, and Section 17 in 1892. He named the property Oakfront after his mother’s home in Ireland and worked with his brother Jeremiah, who took up the property Drinanvale in the Koolkanna area. They lived at Drinanvale in a dugout or a rock hole.

Both were powerful men who could lift four-bushel bags of wheat from the ground to the side of the wagon with ease. Another extraordinary feat of endurance and strength was when Denis was charged by a two-year old bull. He gripped it by the horns and nostrils, holding it down for several hours until assistance arrived. His hand had been licked raw by the tongue of the bull.

The country was in a virgin state and much pioneering work had to be done so the Murphy brothers set to work with a log attached to two teams of bullocks and cleared the first patch of land in the district. Denis also claimed to being the first man to cart and ship wheat from the bay of Port Kenny which was then known as Murphy’s Landing.

Jeremiah sold his property to Henry Freeman in 1905 and purchased a dairy farm in the Murraylands.

On 1 July 1896, Denis married Margaret Monaghan of Kanmantoo, and gradually a homestead was built on Oakfront [still standing today]. The Murphy home was always recognised for its friendliness and hospitality and was a welcome sight to many a weary traveler moving up or down the coast at the time when a horse and buggy was the only means of transport. A change of horses for both the mail coach and the parish priest were stabled at Oakfront and always kept in prime condition, ready to go at a minute’s notice. Many workmen were employed on the property, and also governesses for the education of the children.

For the last twenty years of his life, Denis suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was deprived of the proper use of his limbs. He spent a lot of his time in his later years in a wheelchair. He took a keen interest in all district affairs, and was a staunch supporter of all sporting and other organizations.

Denis and Margaret had three sons: Edmund, Patrick and John and one daughter, Johanna [Hannah, Mrs. G.J. Cash – mother of Denis Cash, the current landholder, is second from left]. Denis Murphy died on 20 March 1930, aged seventy two years, and his wife, Margaret, on 31 August 1943, aged seventy-nine years. Both are buried in the Calca Cemetery.  

This is Denis Drinan Murphy's Funeral Memorial Card

Gravesite near Baird Bay.  

 [1858 - 1930]

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