David Murray (28 December 1829 – 6 January 1907) was a politician in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Murray was born in Anstruther, Fife,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, a son of William Murray. He and his brother William Mackintosh Murray (c. 1831 – 25 November 1920) had some experience in the retail and wholesale

drapery Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles (Old French , from Late Latin ). It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothin ...

trade, which included supplying retailers in the young colony of

. In early 1853 the brothers arrived in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, and began operating a retail drapery store in King William Street, which became the wholesale draper D. & W. Murray Limited, then Goode, Durrant & Murray second in importance only to G. & R. Wills. Murray was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

for East Adelaide on 28 March 1870, serving until 23 December 1871. He represented

East Torrens East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

from 27 March 1877 to 13 March 1878. Murray was elected for Yatala on 25 April 1881 but was unseated on 28 June after being found guilty of bribery and corruption within the meaning of the Electoral Act of 1879. In May 1882 Murray was elected to the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, ...

, holding the seat until retiring on 14 April 1891. Murray was appointed Chief Secretary in the Downer Ministry, in succession to J. B. Spence, in July 1886. He was a foundation member of the SA Geographical Society and a member of the

Caledonian Society of South Australia The Royal Caledonian Society of South Australia was founded in Adelaide in 1881 as the South Australian Caledonian Society to promote Scottish culture and traditions in South Australia. History Foundation members included A. W. Dobbie and Patric ...

, and its Chief 1887–1888. He is remembered as a patron of the Arts, having bequeathed a large collection of prints to the Art Gallery of South Australia, together with £3,000 for the establishment of a print room.McCulloch, Alan ''Encyclopedia of Australian Art'' Hutchinson of London 1968 On 9 May 1856 he married Rebecca Godfrey, they had a son who died young. In March or April 1902 he left for England on account of the ill health of his wife, and never returned.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, David 1829 births 1907 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian art patrons 19th-century Australian businesspeople 20th-century Australian businesspeople Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia People from Anstruther Settlers of South Australia 19th-century Australian politicians Australian book and manuscript collectors