# John Murray

John Murray (15 AUG 1837 – 18 NOV 1917); child of Peter Murray and Jane Witherspoon; born in Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland; parent of 4 children; died in Longreach, Queensland, Australia.

**Lifespan:** 15 AUG 1837 – 18 NOV 1917

## Parents
- [Peter Murray](/p/peter-murray-5773.md) (father)
- [Jane Witherspoon](/p/jane-witherspoon-8184.md) (mother)

## Spouses
- _unknown partner_ — m. 1 SEP 1873
- _unknown partner_ — m. 5 JAN 1882

## Children
- [Gavin Hamilton Murray](/p/gavin-hamilton-murray-5738.md)
- [Colin Fitzroy Murray](/p/colin-fitzroy-murray-5720.md)
- [Norman Robert Murray](/p/norman-robert-murray-5771.md)
- [Margaret Janet Campbell Murray](/p/margaret-janet-campbell-murray-5759.md)

## Timeline
- 15 AUG 1837 — **Born** at Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland
- 27 AUG 1837 — **Baptised** at Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland
- FROM 19 MAY 1888 TO 1 MAR 1901 — **Member for Normanby, Queensland Legislative Assembly** at Queensland, Australia — Member for the seat of Normanby in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, elected in May 1888 as a supporter of Thomas McIlwraith's National Party and sitting until March 1901. The register records the service in two parts, unaligned from 19 May 1888 and ministerialist from 18 April 1893.
- FROM 27 APR 1898 TO 1 FEB 1901 — **Secretary for Railways and Public Works** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Secretary for Railways and Public Works in the Queensland ministry, under the premierships of T. J. Byrnes and Sir James Dickson. The register records the service as two commissions, from 27 April 1898 and from 7 December 1899.
- FROM 1 FEB 1901 TO 1 MAR 1901 — **Postmaster-General of Queensland** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Held the office of Postmaster-General for one month in early 1901, at the point of his move from the Legislative Assembly to the Legislative Council.
- FROM 1 FEB 1901 TO 12 AUG 1902 — **Secretary for Public Instruction** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Secretary for Public Instruction from February 1901 to August 1902, while also serving as the representative of the government in the Legislative Council.
- FROM 12 MAR 1901 TO 13 NOV 1903 — **Member of the Queensland Legislative Council** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council on 12 March 1901. He resigned on 16 November 1903 to contest the Senate election, in which he was defeated.
- FROM 12 AUG 1902 TO 17 SEP 1903 — **Minister without Office** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Minister without portfolio in the Philp ministry from August 1902 until his retirement in September 1903.
- 1917 — **Buried** at Longreach, Queensland, Australia — Buried at Longreach after taking ill on a visit to his Beaconsfield station. His remains were later reinterred in Toowong cemetery, Brisbane, with Presbyterian forms.
- 18 NOV 1917 — **Died** at Longreach, Queensland, Australia
- **Chairman, Gogango Divisional Board** at Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia — A foundation member of the Gogango Divisional Board, in the Rockhampton district, and its chairman for three terms. No dates of service are recorded.
- **Occupation (Pastoralist)** at Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia — Arrived on the Victorian goldfields about 1852. From 1862 he and his brothers Thomas and Campbell shipped live cattle from Twofold Bay and Newcastle to New Zealand until that trade was banned in 1864. He reached Rockhampton about December 1864 and in 1869-71 selected almost 2000 acres of the Rockhampton agricultural reserve as his property Fitzroy Park, growing sugar-cane there from 1872 and helping found the Pandora Sugar Co. Ltd in 1880. After leaving parliament he returned to pastoralism, eventually holding eight pastoral leases, and in 1911 purchased Beaconsfield East and West stations at Ilfracombe.

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