Owen Murphy was a private banker, insurance

Insurance

In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...

 agent and Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician.

Born in Stoneham

Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury, Quebec

Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury is a united township in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the regional county municipality of La Jacques-Cartier north of Quebec City...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, the son of Nicholas Murphy and Ellen O'Brien, both of Irish ancestry, he was a member of the Quebec City Council from 1871 to 1874 and was mayor of Quebec City from 1874 to 1878. In the 1881 Quebec election

Quebec general election, 1881

The Quebec general election of 1881 was held on December 2, 1881 to elect members of the 5th Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada...

, he ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Québec-Ouest. He was elected in the 1886 election

Quebec general election, 1886

The Quebec general election of 1886 on October 14, 1886 to elect members of the 6th Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Parti libéral du Québec, led by Honoré Mercier, won a majority of seats against the Parti conservateur du Québec, led by John Jones Ross.The...

 and re-elected in the 1890 election

Quebec general election, 1890

The Quebec general election of 1890 was held on June 17, 1890 to elect members of the 7th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Honoré Mercier, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Louis-Olivier Taillon.A...

. He died in Quebec City at the age of 68.

Before entering business on his own, he was employed in the lumber exporting business. He was also a director for the Quebec Central Railway

Quebec Central Railway

The Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the area of Quebec called the Eastern Townships, south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships and Kennebec...

. Murphy married Elizabeth Loughry in 1857.