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Hugh Francis Brophy
Hugh Francis Brophy was transported to Fremantle aboard the Hougoumont, the last convict ship to Australia, which landed 11 January 1868. He was held in Fremantle Prison but men with a trade were in short supply in the early colony. A prominent Dublin builder at the time of his arrest, Hugh was required to remain a further three years in Western Australia where in partnership with another Fenian, Joseph Noonan they set up a company.
They built the first bridge over the Swan River as well as a police station, lockup and courthouse at Greenough, a large store and residence for Walter Padbury at Guildford, a convent for the Sisters of Mercy at Goderich Street Perth, St Patrick's Church York, as well as carrying out joinery work on Perth Town Hall.
Brophy left for Victoria in 1872 where he continued his work as a builder until his death at the age of 90. His tombstone in the Melbourne General Cemetery is inscribed with the words, 'Released Political Prisoner'. Bernie Brophy.
Notes
Thanks to Bernie Brophy for a flyer with the above information about and the image of his ancestor.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 5 January, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/brophyhugh.html (it was last updated on 23 January, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.