Joseph Furphy

Joseph Furphy
Born	26 September 1843 Yering, Victoria, Australia
Died	13 September 1912 Claremont, Western Australia
Pen name	Tom Collins
Occupation	Author, poet
Nationality	Australian
Genre	Australian literature

Joseph Furphy (Irish: Seosamh Ó Foirbhilhe; 26 September 1843 – 13 September 1912) is widely regarded as the "Father of the Australian novel". He mostly wrote under the pseudonym Tom Collins and is best known for his novel Such Is Life (1903), regarded as an Australian classic.

Furphy was born at Yering Station in Yering, Victoria. His father, Samuel Furphy, was originally a tenant farmer from Tanderagee, County Armagh, Ireland who, emigrated to Australia in 1840. Samuel Furphy was head gardener on the station. There was no school in the district and at first Joseph was educated by his mother. The only books available were the Bible and Shakespeare and at seven years of age Furphy was already learning passages of each by heart; he never forgot them. In about 1850 the family moved to Kangaroo Ground, Victoria, and here the parents of the district built a school and obtained a master. In 1852 they moved again, to Kyneton where Samuel Furphy began business as a hay and corn merchant. A few years later he leased a farm and also bought a threshing plant. This was worked by Joseph and a brother and both became competent engine-drivers. In 1864 Furphy bought a threshing outfit and travelled the Daylesford and surrounding districts. At Glenlyon he met Leonie Germain, a girl of 16 of French extraction, and in 1866 they were married.

Soon afterwards his wife's mother went to New Zealand and Furphy for a time carried on her farm, but two years later took up a selection near Colbinabbin. The land proved to be poor and, about 1873, he sold out and soon afterwards bought a team of bullocks. He became prosperous as the years went by, but the drought came and he had heavy losses. Some of his bullocks and horses died from pleuro-pneumonia, and in 1884 he accepted a position in the foundry of his brother John at Shepparton. There he worked for some 20 years doing much reading and writing in the evenings.

Late in his life, Furphy moved to Western Australia to join his sons who had established an iron foundry there. He died in Claremont on 13 September 1912 and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.

A full biography of Furphy was written by the Australian author Miles Franklin: Joseph Furphy: The Legend of a Man and His Book, in 1944.

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