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In Fermoy, Ireland |
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James Torpy was born at Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland, in 1832. He was the son of James Torpy, miller, and his wife Jane, née Mortimer. He worked in Manchester and Liverpool in England before sailing for Melbourne, Victoria Australia, in 1853. After a time at the goldfields he went to New South Wales and mined successfully at Sofala in the Turon Valley. |
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|  Sofala General Store
Sofala is located 245 km north west of Sydney and 45 km north
of Bathurst NSW in the Turon River valley. It came into existence as a direct result
of the goldrush which had been precipitated when Edward Hargraves discovered gold at
Summerhill Creek on 12 February, 1851. By June that year a tent city spread across the
valley and both the Royal Hotel and a General Store were built in 1851.
By 25 June more than 200 ounces of gold taken from the Turon Valley had been sold in Bathurst.
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|  Chinaman's Dam
James Torpy was a hotel-keeper at Lambing Flat, later named Young, in 1861 when the anti-Chinese riots broke out.
As a leader of the Miners' Protection League he addressed a meeting in March 1861 that was called
to explain the miners' position to the premier (Sir) Charles Cowper. Stating that 'the instinct of
self-preservation impels us to oppose their coming here', Torpy argued that if the Chinese were
allowed to flood on to the diggings the Europeans would be forced off and the gold quickly
exhausted. In July he was chosen as miners' delegate to present a petition to Governor Sir
John Young, but while in Sydney was arrested on 5 August and charged with riot, unlawful
assembly and wilful destruction of Chinese property on 30 June at Burrangong; denying the
allegations, he was allowed bail and appeared in the Burrangong court. The charges were
dismissed as the prosecution's witnesses could not be found.
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|  Anti-Chinese Riots
At the time of Torpy's defence of miners' rights, he lost much support when a mining claim
in which he was principal shareholder was sold to some Chinese. He was accused of acknowledging
the right of the Chinese to work on the field. In a letter to the Miner and General Advertiser
he asserted that he had not been inconsistent and that he 'would rather make a profit out of an
enemy than a friend'.
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 St. Saviour's C. of E. Goulburn NSW | On 3 June 1862 Torpy married Isabella Jane Walwyn at St Saviour's Church of England, Goulburn. He then lived at Forbes before going to Orange where, by 1867, he was licensee of the Commercial Hotel and later of the Wellington Inn. In 1876 he retired from the hotel business, visited Ireland and, on his return to Orange, became a wine and spirits merchant. |
 Sir Henry Parkes | He was elected alderman in 1878 and was mayor of Orange in 1879 and 1880. While mayor he became acquainted with Sir Henry Parkes who supported his attempt in 1882 to enter the Legislative Assembly, but he was defeated by Thomas Dalton. In 1884 he became a guarantor of the Western Daily Advocate and proprietor in 1886. He was an active member of the Provincial Press Association. Torpy represented Orange in 1889-94 in the Legislative Assembly as a protectionist. In 1890 he opposed Federation as unnecessary but by 1901 favoured Orange as the site for the federal capital. In July 1894 he was one of those nominated to the Legislative Council by Sir George Dibbs but was rejected by Governor Sir Robert Duff. |
 Orange Town Hall |
An original member of the Athenaeum Club, Torpy was vice-president of the Orange Jockey Club,
president of the Central Western Rugby Football Union, a director of the Orange Permanent
Building Society and president of the Orange Mechanics' School of Arts. He belonged to the
Orange Volunteer Rifle Corps. He continued to write for his newspaper until a few days before
he died in Sydney on 22 June 1903 of broncho-pneumonia. Buried in Church of England cemetery,
Orange, he was survived by his wife, four daughters and four sons. |
