José Murphy y Meade (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1774 – Mexico, 1841) was the descendant of Patricio and Juana, Irish entrepreneurs engaged in commerce and maritime activities in this city. In 1801, he served as an official representative of the Santa Cruz City Council and the following year, he was elected councilor in the Royal Consulate of the Sea. In 1808, he held a pivotal position as a member and commissioner of Finance, Commerce, Merchant Marine, General Police, and Public Benefit in the Supreme Board Government of the Canary Islands. He effectively represented the board before the Superior Board of Seville and acted as its deputy in the Central Board of Madrid.
Murphy is hailed as the political founding figure of Santa Cruz for his instrumental role in securing its status as the Capital of the Canary Islands. The City Council entrusted him as Deputy to the Cortes of Madrid to advocate for and defend the Municipality’s interests in the sessions determining the Capital of the Archipelago, a decision that involved choosing between Las Palmas, La Laguna, or Santa Cruz.
With his talent, skill, and unwavering determination, Murphy skillfully maneuvered through painstaking negotiations, leading to the historic session of the Cortes on October 19, 1821, wherein the Very Noble, Loyal, and Invicta Villa of Santa Cruz de Santiago de Tenerife was established. Three months later, on January 27, 1822, Ferdinand VII ratified the Royal Decree establishing the division of Spanish territory into 52 provinces, designating Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with a population of 215,108 inhabitants, as the capital of the Canary Islands. This prestigious status, which marks its 202nd anniversary, persisted until September 23, 1927, when the Government of the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja decreed the division of the Canary Islands into two provinces: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas.
Exile
Following his support of the temporary incapacity of Ferdinand VII in 1823, Murphy faced severe repercussions including the confiscation of his assets and the imposition of the death penalty by garroting. To evade this fate, he sought exile initially in London, passing through Gibraltar, and eventually settling in Mexico.
In 1834, with the grant of amnesty and the normalization of political ties with Spain, Murphy assumed the role of Spain’s consul general, without receiving any remuneration.
Given the uncertainty surrounding his final resting place in Tenerife, the Tertulia Amigos of July 25 initiated efforts to locate his remains for repatriation. Their endeavors bore fruit in 2006, when Mexican historian Walter O. Arias Estrada revealed that the death record from the Parish of the Metropolitan Sagrario of Guanajuato (Mexico) indicated that on July 4, 1841, Murphy was laid to rest in a cemetery that would later cease to exist, with the bodies of those whose perpetuity had not been paid for being exhumed at the end of the 19th century.
Recognition
Although the Santa Cruz City Council expressed gratitude for his dedicated and effective representation and efforts in defending the rights of the town upon his return from Madrid in 1821, it wasn’t until 1895 that the municipal architect and councilor Don Manuel de Cámara proposed naming a street, running from Castillo to Ruíz de Padrón, after him.
In 1903, the Capital document sent by Murphy from Madrid was included in the Green Book housed in the City Hall’s safe.
However, it was Don Marcos Guimerá who shed light on the immense human and political stature of Murphy, by publishing “La capitalidad y la division en las Islas Canarias” (1966) and “El Pleito Insular” (1976). Marking the bicentennial of his birth in 1974, Guimerá presented a biography titled “José Murphy,” further expanded in 2003 as “José Murphy (1774 –1841): Life, work, exile, and death.”
In 1978, a group of Tenerife citizens paid homage to this esteemed figure, as commemorated on the plaque installed on the house, now occupied by the residence in which he was born and lived, on San Francisco Street, corner of San Martín. The plaque features a small bronze relief of his bust, crafted by Francisco Borges Salas.
Additionally, the Tertulia Amigos of July 25 honored his distinguished legacy, urging the City Council to erect a monument in his honor. The proposed monument was realized on September 30, 2003, in Plaza San Francisco, featuring the sculptor Roberto Barrera Martín’s portrayal of Murphy appearing saddened and dejected on his journey into exile, based on four sketches and models in plaster and bronze by Francisco Borges Salas.
The monument’s base bears the inscription: “Procurator trustee of this City Council who obtained for his hometown, the then Villa, Port and Plaza of Santa Cruz in Santiago de Tenerife, the title of Capital of the Province of the Canary Islands. “The Municipal Corporation as a sign of gratitude to this enlightened son.”
With this monument, Santa Cruz fulfilled a historical debt to one of its most distinguished sons. The Municipal Corporation further decided to annually commemorate this anniversary on January 27, ensuring that new generations grasp the significance of their own history while bestowing upon him the title of “Political Father of Santa Cruz.”
