Dunphie, Charles James (1820–1908), poet, author, and art critic, was born 4 November 1820 at Rathdowney House, Rathdowney, Queen's Co. (Laois), elder son of Michael Dunphy, merchant, and Kate Dunphy (née Woodroffe). He attended TCD before travelling to London to study medicine at King's College Hospital. He contributed verse to the Belfast Vindicator, wrote a series of essays on politics and literature (1842–4) as ‘T.C.D.’ and ‘C.’ in the Nation, and soon abandoned medicine for journalism, joining the staff at The Times. Family lore suggests that he was offered the position as correspondent on the Crimean war, but, being recently married, he declined and persuaded his friend William Howard Russell (qv) to travel in his stead. His wartime activity was limited to co-founding and writing (under the pseudonym ‘Melopoyn’) for the Patriotic Fund Journal, a weekly collection of prose and poetry whose profits were given to the patriotic fund for the Crimean war. In 1856 he moved to the Morning Post as art and drama critic, writing for them until his death more than fifty years later. It is thought he changed the spelling of his name at this time to avoid confusion with his younger brother, Henry Michael Dunphy , who was for many years the chief correspondent for the Morning Post in the house of commons.
His deep knowledge of art and drama brought him great respect as a critic, and this was supplemented by his publication of well received poetry written in Latin, Greek, and English for the Cornhill and Belgravia. He regularly wrote essays, tinged with cynicism, for The Sunday Times and the Observer, under the pseudonym ‘Rambler’. These essays were collected in several volumes including Wildfire (1876), Sweet sleep (1879), and The chameleon (1888). He also co-wrote Freelance: tiltings in many lists (1880).
He died at his home in London 7 July 1908 and was buried at Putney Vale cemetery. He married (31 March 1853) Jane Miller of London; they had two sons and one daughter.