Back in 2017, I bought a small collection of Postcard Photos of a chap called Barney Murphy, obviously an entertainer in the Theatre. So I wrote a blog about them with some family history. I was very pleased when a couple of years later a family descendant got in touch and the outcome of that was that all the photos were returned back to their family, I was thrilled.

Then a few weeks ago, in February 2024, I received a message on Ancestry from a lovely lady called Ellen, about my Barney Murphy family tree, she is descended from his brother Tommy, different to the part of the family that now has the old photos I found. So after chatting, Ellen sent me a few more family photos and more information that she knew of from the family. She was fairly new to Ancestry so I’ve been helping her with her family tree too.

She very kindly said I could share them all with you. I do love this first one!

Ellen’s Scottish paternal Grandmother was Mary Muir, a music hall entertainer and she knows there are relatives in Australia and her Grandfather Tommy Murphy has relatives in Canada.

Barney’s brother Tommy Murphy was married to a music hall artist called Mary Muir-Payne her stage name was Flora McDonald. Tommy Murphy was her 2nd husband as the first one died tragically.

“These are photos below of my grandma in music hall garb”

The man above is Thomas Murphy – Barney Murphy’s dad

Aren’t they just the most fabulous old photos to have in your family archives! Huge thanks to Ellen for sharing with us all. By the way, Ellen is also a musician and singer and she teaches music in school, so she’s definitely carried on the family traditions.

If you missed reading the original Blog that I wrote here’s the link: Barney Murphy Comedy Entertainer

Till next time then…….