George Henry Murray (June 7, 1861 – January 6, 1929) was a

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

politician who served as the eighth

premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of ...

for 26 years and 188 days, the longest unbroken tenure for a head of government in

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...

Early life and career

Murray was born in

Grand Narrows, Nova Scotia Grand Narrows ( gd, An Caolas Mór) (2001 population 15) is a community in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. The community is the birthplace of the longest serving Premier of Nova Scotia, George Henry Murray. The Bar ...

. He was a member of the

North British Society The North British Society (also known as "The Scots" and "Scots Club") was founded in Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1768, the oldest Scottish heritage society outside Great Britain. North British is an adjective used as a ...

. Despite his later political longevity, Murray's early political career was marked by inability to get elected. He lost five consecutive elections at the federal and provincial level before he finally won a seat. Despite his electoral failures he was highly regarded within the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Zach ...

and was nominated by Nova Scotia Premier

William Stevens Fielding William Stevens Fielding, (November 24, 1848 – June 23, 1929) was a Canadian Liberal politician, the seventh premier of Nova Scotia (1884–96), and the federal Minister of Finance from 1896 to 1911 and again from 1921 to 1925. Early life ...

as his successor after Fielding left provincial politics in 1896 to join the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Sir

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

. Murray was sworn in as premier and took a seat in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

when he was acclaimed as a candidate in Victoria County. GHMurrayByEdmund Wyly Grier

Premier of Nova Scotia

As premier, Murray was a practitioner of brokerage politics. His government continued the public works projects of his predecessor, particularly in the area of railways by doubling the province's track mileage within a decade, as well as road and bridge construction. His government was instrumental in improving the province's postsecondary education system, particularly in agricultural and vocational education by the founding of the

Nova Scotia Agricultural College Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) was a publicly owned Canadian university college (founded 14 February 1905 and administered within the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture) located at Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Agricultura ...

at Bible Hill as well as the

Nova Scotia Technical College The Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS) was a Canadian university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. TUNS was officially founded as the Nova Scotia Technical College on 25 April 1907. On 1 April 1997 it was merged into Dalhousie Universit ...

in Halifax. In 1906, the Liberals instituted

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

. The Murray government also introduced

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

in 1916 and instituted

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in 1918. The Murray government also introduced progressive labour legislation such as the Factories Act in 1908 and the act for workman's compensation for injuries on the job in 1915. In the area of public health, thit appointed public health officers, established county health clinics, and founded a research hospital for tuberculosis patients. After almost three decades in power, Murray retired from politics in January 1923. He twice declined the offer of knighthood and twice refused earlier offers to join the federal cabinet of Canadian Prime Minister Sir

. He died in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. His son George Belcher Murray later served in the provincial assembly.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, George Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Premiers of Nova Scotia People from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality 1861 births 1929 deaths Nova Scotia political party leaders

Early life and career

Premier of Nova Scotia

See also

References