James Dixon Murray (17 September 1887 – 24 January 1965) was a British coal miner and Labour Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life and education

Murray was born in East Howle,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, on 17 September 1887 to William Murray and Amelia Murray (née Dixon). He was from a family of twelve and was brought up in a three-roomed miner's cottage at 27, Front Street, Browney Colliery. He began work at a Durham pit aged thirteen, and was hewing coal by the time he was sixteen years old. He had a primary education at East Howle Elementary school, but was anxious to improve himself, went to evening classes and twice won WEA (

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

) university scholarships.

Early political career (1925–1942)

He was a miners' union official, was elected to Durham County Council in 1925, and in 1937 became an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of Durham City.

Parliamentary career

He was elected unopposed as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Spennymoor Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham, England, Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers ...

at a by-election in July 1942, following the resignation of the Labour MP

Joseph Batey Joseph Batey (4 March 1867 – 21 February 1949) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Batey became a coal miner, before winning election as a checkweighman, and then becoming a full-time official for the Durham Miners' Associat ...

due to ill health. He retained the seat at the 1945 general election, and when the Spennymoor constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election, he was returned as MP for the new

North West Durham North West Durham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 12 December 2019 by Richard Holden of the Conservative Party. Constituency profile The constituency is in the north west of County Durham ...

constituency. On 22 June 1948 in a letter to the Prime Minister

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

James Murray was one of eleven MPs who raised concerns about West Indians who arrived on board the

HMT Empire Windrush HMT ''Empire Windrush'', originally MV ''Monte Rosa'', was a passenger liner and cruise ship launched in Germany in 1930. She was owned and operated by the German shipping line in the 1930s under the name ''Monte Rosa''. During World War II she ...

. He retired from the House of Commons at the 1955 general election.

Maiden speech

urban myth An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

surrounds his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

. It is popularly believed that it took him years to make his maiden speech, finally rising to his feet during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to complain about "the shortage of dum-tits at Meadowfield Co-op". In fact he made his

, entitled "Coal Situation" on 1 October 1942, little over two months after being elected. His speech about the "Soothers" was actually made during the closing months of

, almost three years after his entry to Parliament.

Parliamentary incidents

Murray was publicly reprimanded in the House of Commons on 17 March 1947 by Conservative MP

Robert Boothby Robert John Graham Boothby, Baron Boothby, (12 February 1900 – 16 July 1986), often known as Bob Boothby, was a British Conservative politician. Early life The only son of Sir Robert Tuite Boothby, KBE, of Edinburgh and a cousin of Rosalind ...

for eating an orange, as Boothby was allergic to oranges.

Personal life

Prior to his election to Parliament, he ran a shop and lived in a house opposite it at 11 Frederick Street, North

Meadowfield Meadowfield is a small village in County Durham, England, situated approximately two miles south-west of Durham on the A690. It is situated within the civil parish of Brandon and Byshottles. The village consists mainly of one road of terraced h ...

until he died. He was an Independent Methodist Minister and President of the Browney Independent Methodist Church in Brandon Lane. When the chapel closed, he founded and opened the new Murray Independent Methodist Church on 11 October 1958 on the new Saw Mills Estate, at Grove Road,

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

which is locally known as "Jimmy Murray's chapel". He died at Dryburn Hospital, Durham and left an estate valued at £14,769Northern echo, Pit boy who became M.P. left £14,000, date unknown and was survived by his wife and their three daughters.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James Dixon 1887 births 1965 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs National Union of Mineworkers-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955