Birthplace of José Murphy

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: S. XVIII

In the "casa alta" that once stood on San Francisco street, at the corner with San Martín and with its rear facing San Juan Bautista street, José Murphy was born and lived, one of the most important liberal politicians of the first quarter of the 19th century, main promoter of the capital status of the Archipelago in favour of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and staunch defender of the economic singularities of the Canary Islands against the rest of the Peninsula. 

José Murphy y Meade (1774-1841) was born in that house into an Irish family successfully dedicated to the mercantile career. Educated for this purpose, he spoke and wrote perfectly in English and French, which allowed him to develop notable commercial experience abroad. Until the Liberal Triennium (1820-1823) José Murphy actively participated in Tenerife's public life and was actively committed to the project of turning Santa Cruz into a port city open to world trade without obstacles or tariffs. His political career, whether as syndic representative of the Town Hall, member of the Supreme Board, provincial deputy or deputy to the Cortes, was marked by the struggle for the hegemony of Santa Cruz against La Laguna and Las Palmas to become the provincial capital of the Islands, a goal he achieved for his hometown in 1821. Two years later, in 1823, after the overthrow of the constitutional regime and the return of the absolutism of Fernando VII, José Murphy, condemned to death for his liberal ideas, had to go into exile, first to London and then to Mexico, where he died in poverty in 1841.

We know little about his birthplace. Called the "large high house" we have a description by Juan Primo de la Guerra, 3rd Viscount of Buen Paso, who in his Diary from 1808 to 1810 describes it thus on a ball night:

Murphy's house is one of the tallest, most tasteful and well-decorated in this town. The reception rooms were lit; in one there were tables with rosquetes and biscuits, punch and other liquors, and in the dining room tea was served when we arrived. In the room between the hall there is a mahogany desk with inlays and glass doors, containing a considerable collection of Spanish, French and English books. I had never dealt with the owners of that house, whose attention and courtesies give an idea of their civility.

It seems that this building, which had turrets to spot the vessels entering the port and which were of such economic importance to the Murphy family, disappeared at the end of the 19th century due to a fire. On its site another was built which was demolished in the 1970s to erect the building we see today, on the facade of San Francisco street of which, in 1978, a plaque was installed to remember that this liberal politician who did so much for his city was born and lived here.

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