Southern Suburbs, Rondebosch, St. Paul's Anglican Church

Abstract

One finds a rather large bell in the neat open tower of the Saint Paul's Anglican Church. Below the shoulder there are two moulding wires and beneath this the inscription band JOHN MURPHY FOUNDER DUBLIN 1874 and below this another wire followed by two more above the waist. In the middle of the waist above a laurel appears a neat emblem with an Irish harp, surmounted by a crown. John Murphy started as a coppersmith in 1837 but branched-out to bell founding in 1843. The bell in the church is one of the last made by John who died in 1875 and was followed up by his son John J. Murphy who ran the foundry until his death in 1948. John Murphy is best known for a 1868 peal of 8 bells in the St Patrick’s cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. We expect that the bell in Rondebosch is rather unique. There is still a need to collect the physical and acoustical data of the bell.