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Sir Terence Aubrey MURRAY (1810 - 1873)

Date of Birth: 01/01/1810 Place of Birth: Balliston, County Limerick, Ireland Date of Death: 22/06/1873 Place of Death: Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia

Parliamentary Service

Position Start End Period Parliament Notes Member of the NSW Legislative Council 1 Jun 1843 20 Jun 1848 5yr(s) 20day(s) An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the Counties of Murray, King and Georgiana Member of the NSW Legislative Council 1 Jul 1848 30 Jun 1851 2yr(s) 11mth(s) 30day(s) An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the Counties of Murray, King and Georgiana Member of the NSW Legislative Council 1 Sep 1851 29 Feb 1856 4yr(s) 5mth(s) 29day(s) An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the Southern Boroughs viz., Goulburn, Queanbeyan, Braidwood and Yass Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 4 Apr 1856 15 Oct 1862 6yr(s) 6mth(s) 12day(s) Member of the NSW Legislative Council 14 Oct 1862 22 Jun 1873 10yr(s) 8mth(s) 9day(s) Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 13 October 1862 Member for Southern Boroughs 4 Apr 1856 26 Aug 1856 4mth(s) 23day(s) 1st (1856 - 1857) Member for Southern Boroughs 5 Sep 1856 7 Sep 1857 1yr(s) 3day(s) 1st (1856 - 1857) Member for Southern Boroughs 24 Sep 1857 19 Dec 1857 2mth(s) 26day(s) 1st (1856 - 1857) Member for Southern Boroughs 28 Jan 1858 11 Apr 1859 1yr(s) 2mth(s) 15day(s) 2nd (1858 - 1859) Member for Argyle 18 Jun 1859 10 Nov 1860 1yr(s) 4mth(s) 24day(s) 3rd (1859 - 1860) Member for Argyle 5 Dec 1860 15 Oct 1862 1yr(s) 10mth(s) 11day(s) 4th (1860 - 1864) Auditor General 26 Aug 1856 17 Sep 1856 23day(s) Secretary for Lands and Works 26 Aug 1856 2 Oct 1856 1mth(s) 7day(s) Secretary for Lands and Works 7 Sep 1857 12 Jan 1858 4mth(s) 6day(s) Chairman of Committees 26 May 1856 26 Aug 1856 3mth(s) 1day(s) Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 31 Jan 1860 13 Oct 1862 2yr(s) 8mth(s) 13day(s) President of the Legislative Council 14 Oct 1862 22 Jun 1873 10yr(s) 8mth(s) 9day(s) Took oath before Governor Governor General's Opening Speech 23 May 1856 23 May 1856 1day 1st (1856 - 1857) Appointed by Speaker's Warrant 28 May 1856 18 Mar 1857 9mths 19days 1st (1856 - 1857) Masters’ and Servants’ Acts Continuation Bill Committee No.8 13 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 7mths 6days 1st (1856 - 1857) Church and School Lands Committee No.11 19 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 6mths 28days 1st (1856 - 1857) Additional Ministerial Department Committee No.12 20 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 6mths 27days 1st (1856 - 1857) Sole Commissioner of Railways Incorporation Bill Committee No.22 19 Nov 1856 18 Mar 1857 3mths 28days 1st (1856 - 1857) Elections and Qualifications Committee 19 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 3mths 30days 1st (1856 - 1857) By Speaker's Warrant St John’s College Bill Committee No.6 26 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 3mths 23days 1st (1856 - 1857) Navigation of the Murray and its Effluents Committee No.10 27 Oct 1857 18 Dec 1857 1mth 22days 1st (1856 - 1857) Navigation of the Murray, & c. Committee No.8 13 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 14days 2nd (1858 - 1859) State of the Magistracy Committee No.17 18 May 1858 26 Nov 1858 6mths 9days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Chairman Irish Female Immigrants (Petition from Celtic Association) Committee No.20 28 May 1858 9 Apr 1859 10mths 13days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Railway Services of Thomas Woore Esq. Committee No.24 2 Jul 1858 26 Nov 1858 4mths 25days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Chairman Landed Property in cases of Intestacy Descent Bill Committee No.25 2 Jul 1858 26 Nov 1858 4mths 25days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Chairman Railway Accident Committee No.28 14 Jul 1858 26 Nov 1858 4mths 13days 2nd (1858 - 1859) University of Sydney Committee No.29 20 Jul 1858 26 Nov 1858 4mths 7days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Irish Female Immigrants Committee No.4 15 Dec 1858 9 Apr 1859 3mths 26days 2nd (1858 - 1859) University of Sydney Committee No.8 14 Jan 1859 9 Apr 1859 2mths 27days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Vacant Seat – Question of Privilege Committee No.9 3 Mar 1859 9 Apr 1859 1mth 7days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Parliamentary Accommodation Committee No.10 17 Mar 1859 9 Apr 1859 24days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Proposed Vote of Censure on the Attorney General Committee No.11 25 Mar 1859 9 Apr 1859 16days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Library Committee No.3 1 Sep 1859 4 Jul 1860 10mths 4days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Standing Orders Committee No.2 1 Sep 1859 4 Jul 1860 10mths 4days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Library Committee No.3 1 Sep 1859 3rd (1859 - 1860) Library Committee No.3 1 Sep 1859 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Sydney Grammar School Committee No.6 13 Sep 1859 4 Jul 1860 9mths 22days 3rd (1859 - 1860) University of Sydney Committee No.5 13 Sep 1859 4 Jul 1860 9mths 22days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Dismissal of Mr .F Gorton Committee No.9 14 Sep 1859 4 Jul 1860 9mths 21days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Case of James Hibburd Committee No.16 23 Sep 1859 4 Jul 1860 9mths 12days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Church and School Lands Committee No.15 23 Sep 1859 4 Jul 1860 9mths 12days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Church and School Lands Committee No.15 23 Sep 1859 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Petition of Mr William Sutherland Committee No.20 7 Oct 1859 4 Jul 1860 8mths 28days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Wesley College Bill Committee No.21 12 Oct 1859 4 Jul 1860 8mths 23days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Petition of Mrs Frances Dr Courcy Committee No.25 18 Oct 1859 4 Jul 1860 8mths 17days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Standing Orders Committee No.2 27 Sep 1860 9 Nov 1860 1mth 14days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Library Committee No.3 27 Sep 1860 9 Nov 1860 1mth 14days 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Standing Orders Committee No.2 27 Sep 1860 3rd (1859 - 1860) Chairman Library Committee No.3 15 Jan 1861 11 May 1861 3mths 27days 4th (1860 - 1864) Chairman Standing Orders Committee No.2 15 Jan 1861 11 May 1861 3mths 27days 4th (1860 - 1864) Chairman Privilege Committee No.29 4 Apr 1861 11 May 1861 1mth 8days 4th (1860 - 1864) Chairman Standing Orders Committee No.2 4 Sep 1861 20 Jan 1862 4mths 17days Chairman Library Committee No.3 4 Sep 1861 20 Jan 1862 4mths 17days Chairman Standing Orders Committee No.2 28 May 1862 28 May 1862 1day 4th (1860 - 1864) Speaker and Chairman Library Committee No.3 28 May 1862 1 Aug 1862 2mths 5days 4th (1860 - 1864) Chairman

Qualifications, occupations and interests

Pastoralist. Educated at the school of Reverend William White, Church of England clergyman, in Ireland. Arrived in New South Wales with his father in April 1827. Took up land grant at Lake George 1829; Inherited adjoining grant on father's death 1835; Purchased other adjoining land and called the consolidated property Winderradeen, building a fine homestead there. With T. Walker he bought Yarralumla near Queanbeyan in 1836, where he lived until 1855 when he moved to Winderradeen. Took up land at Jingellec, Upper Murray; in 1846 he announced that he had given up squatting in unsettled districts, but continued to lease large areas of Crown land in settled districts (42,680 acres in 1857). Settled Yarralumla and part of Winderradeen on his wife and lost most of the property to her family by her will when she died in 1858; almost bankrupt 1865. Executive Commissioner for New South Wales at Paris Exhibition 1866-1867. Active as the President of the Society for Abolition of Capital Punishment. Advocated importation of coolie labour from India 1841. Admired Garibaldi. Probably the only member of Parliament to oppose democracy but supported John Robertson's Land Acts 1861. Uncle of F.J. Gibbes Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Honours Received

Knighted in 1869

Personal

Son of Captain Terence Murray, military officer, and Ellen Fitzgerald. Married (1) Mary Gibbes on 27 May 1843 in Sydney, and had issue, l son and 5 daughters. Married (2) Agnes Ann Edwards on 4 August 1860 at Winderradeen, and had issue, 2 sons. Roman Catholic.

Additional Information

Biography and portrait in ‘Australian Men of Mark’, Volume 1. Sydney, [?1889] , page 159 Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2 G. Wilson, Murray of Yarralumla, Melbourne, 1968 Text from the book: 'The Presiding Officers of the Parliament of New South Wales', Sydney, 1995

Terence Murray was born in 1810 in County Limerick, Ireland. After completing his education in Ireland Murray emigrated to New South Wales to join his father in 1827 and two years later they took up adjoining land grants at Lake George. After his father's death, Murray joined the properties and formed the Winderradeen estate. Until 1855 he lived near Queanbeyan at Yarralumla, the property that was later to become Government House. He married Mary Gibbes in 1843; and Agnes Edwards in 1860. He had one son and five daughters from his first marriage and two sons from his second marriage. After the death of his first wife in 1858, Murray lost Yarralumla. and part of Winderradeen to his wife's family, leaving him almost without land. He was elected as a Member of the old Legislative Council from 1843 until 1856, where he fought ardently against capital punishment. From 1856 he was the Member for the Southern Boroughs in the Legislative Assembly until he successfully contested the seat of Argyle in 1859. Throughout 1856 Murray held the positions of Chairman of Committees, Secretary for Lands and Works, and Auditor-General. He was also the Secretary for Lands and Works between 1857 and 1858. Murray was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1860 until 1862 when he was appointed to the reconstituted Legislative Council. Upon entering the upper house he was immediately appointed President of the Legislative Council, holding that office until 1873. In October 1862, when Murray ruled that the Council should not attempt to amend money bills he was in fact attempting to persuade the Legislative Council to adopt the traditions of the English House of Lords. However, his decision was met with great opposition and the Council continued to amend money bills. He died on 22 June 1873 at Darlinghurst in New South Wales.

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