Marjory (Marj) Gaffey – Motorcycle Messenger
Every now and then we meet one of those extraordinary larger than life characters, more often in motorcycle circles than other groups! MARJ GAFFEY was one of those people- a lively personality, full of life, always ready to help and who could make you laugh with her light-hearted comments. Sadly, Marj passed away on the 30th March this year at the age of 88 years.
Marj was well-known in motorcycle circles and joined the Orange Branch of the CEMCC in 1985 and held the position of Secretary for a number of years. Marj was an enthusiastic motorcyclist and in later years rode her 1949 Matchless everywhere. When club members trailered bikes from Orange to Griffith, Marj chose to ride there and back – she was no “trailer queen”! Marj bought her 1948 Matchless in 1987 for $1400 and rode it to Adelaide in 1988 and Broken Hill in the 1989 Easter run.
Marj, then Marjorie Murphy, commenced riding in 1949 at the age of 17, as a messenger for a pharmacy, averaging about 300 miles a week. She was the only known professional female motorcyclist at the time, and an active member of the Randwick District Motorcycle Club. Motorcycles became a lifetime interest for Marj. In the 1950s she also worked in Jack Ehret’s motorcycle shop in Sydney. When Marg was well into her 80s, she had a sidecar fitted to her Matchless and continued to ride. Marj gave a talk at the Bulli Rally in 2019 about her motorcycle exploits.
One of Marj’s light-hearted quips was that she was always on the lookout for a bloke at rallies who was rich enough to own a Vincent! Our last photo of Marj was taken in 2019, shows Marj still admiring Jack Ehret’s Vincent Black Lightning which set the Australian Land Speed record of 141.509 mph in 1953 – the bike was on display at the Bulli Rally in 2019, having been purchased for over one million dollars and brought back from the US to Australia. We will miss Marj but we hope her search of the bloke with the Vincent will be successful. Rest in Peace Marj.