Victoria in 1851 very nearly emptied Adelaide and the diocese was in great difficulties. One of the priests, however, followed his flock to the diggings, and succeeded in raising £1,500 which was spent on land as an endowment for the diocese, and, soon afterward, Mr Leigh presented it with a farm of near Adelaide. Many of his flock who joined the gold rush to Victoria sent their gold to him to sell and hold in trust or buy land for them. Murphy was untiring in his work, travelling and preaching in all the settled parts of the colony, and his diocese gradually prospered. At the time of his death there were 21 churches and 13 priests, and Catholic education had been established. His amiable character led to his being asked on more than one occasion to act as mediator when difficulties arose in other dioceses, and while on a mission of this kind in Tasmania in connexion with the unfortunate differences between Bishop Robert Willson and Arch-priest Therry, Murphy contracted a severe cold which developed into consumption (tuberculosis). He died at Adelaide on 26 April 1858 and is buried in St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide. Murphy was a tall, active man, simple in manner and tastes, and though sometimes hasty tempered, had a kind nature. He had a good voice, was an excellent preacher, and was eminently fitted to be the pioneer bishop in a colony where his co-religionists were comparatively few in number. The Bishop Murphy Society has been established in the Archdiocese of Adelaide to honour the generosity of those individuals who have pledged a bequest for any of the good works of the Archdiocese. References 1795 births 1858 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia People from Navan Roman Catholic bishops of Adelaide People educated at St Finian's College Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish emigrants to colonial Australia