Richard William ("RW") Murray Snr. (1819-1908) was a journalist, editor, newspaper proprietor and politician of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

. He was a lifelong supporter of British imperial expansion, and used the name "Limner" in most of his writings.

The Cape Monitor (1854-1856)

Murray was born in London in 1819. In his youth, Murray worked for several newspapers in London, before he arrived in Cape Town in 1854 and immediately began work as editor of the reactionary '' Cape Monitor''. In this capacity, he attended and reported on the early sessions of the new

Cape Parliament The Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope functioned as the legislature of the Cape Colony, from its founding in 1853, until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it was dissolved and the Parliament of South Africa was establis ...

as one of two observer newspapers (the other being the liberal '' Commercial Advertiser and Mail''). He quickly acquired a reputation for enormous personal and political bias, predominantly against any form of local government. In a strange turn of affairs, the editor of the competing '' Commercial Advertiser and Mail'' was also an elected MP in the parliament and Murray's reporting on Fairbairn was notorious for its vitriol. He was also one of the leading journalistic attackers of the speaker

Christoffel Brand Sir Christoffel Joseph Brand (21 June 1797 Cape Town – 19 May 1875 Cape Town) was a Cape jurist, politician, statesman and first Speaker of the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope, Legislative Assembly of the Cape Colony. Early life and edu ...

and the MP Saul Solomon. He compiled a large number of sketches and reminiscences that provide a large portion of the early history of the Cape Parliament.Kilpin, R.: ''The Old Cape House, being pages from the history of a legislative assembly''. Cape Town: T.M. Miller, 1918.

The Cape Argus (1856-1862)

He founded the '' Cape Argus'', with Bryan Henry Darnell and Saul Solomon, in 1856. However he and Darnell swiftly became relatively unpopular, as their fiercely pro-imperialist political views antagonised the Cape public, who were predominantly supportive of "

Responsible Government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

" (locally elected democracy) and its leader

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

. Darnell and Murray therefore left the Cape Argus (in 1859 and 1862 respectively), with Saul Solomon taking over and bringing the paper into accord with public opinion and into a period of enormous growth.

The Great Eastern (1863-1866)

The Eastern part of the

was traditionally far more pro-imperialist in its politics, and the British Governor Philip Wodehouse moved there to garner support against the growing Responsible Government movement. He took Murray with him for media support, and Murray started the '' Great Eastern'' newspaper to support the pro-imperialist party accordingly. He also briefly stood for the constituency of Cradock in 1865, in the

. However, in the ensuing parliamentary sessions, Molteno's Responsible Government party outmaneuvered the Governor's party and its Eastern Cape supporters, and the Government was forced to return to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. The ''Great Eastern'' also faltered and eventually was forced to close in September 1866. In an unusual turn of events, this paper was later re-opened by new owners as '' The Eastern Star'' but in fact came to be taken over by the '' Cape Argus'' which Murray had originally left in Cape Town. It eventually moved to Johannesburg.

Griqualand West (1866-1908)

In 1866 Murray returned to

, where he briefly edited the '' Standard and Mail''. However he left for Griqualand West in the same year, and settled down in what is now

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

. He had a great interest in mining, and the great diamond rush was at the time underway. There, he edited the pro-British publication '' Diamond News'', which he used to attempt to prevent a similar movement for self-government appearing in Griqualand West. In this aim, it was squarely opposed to the pre-existing ''Diamond Field'' paper of

Alfred Aylward Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

. In 1884, the new '' Diamond Times'' newspaper opened, with Murray as editor. While officially owned by a "Woolf Joel", the paper was in fact owned and directed by the diamond magnate

Barney Barnato Barney Barnato (21 February 1851 – 14 June 1897), born Barnet Isaacs, was a British Randlord, one of the entrepreneurs who gained control of diamond mining, and later, gold mining in South Africa from the 1870s up to World War I. He is perha ...

. It was therefore used for public attacks on Barnato's opponents. This brought it into conflict with

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...

, who was at the time taking over control of the diamond fields from Barnato. Soon afterwards, Murray returned to Cape Town.

Family

He married Letitia Murray (d.1886) from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, and they had three children (Richard William Murray Jnr., C. H. Murray and Frank Murray). His son, Richard William Murray Jnr., was later to return to

and take over editing the '' Standard and Mail''. In 1876, he also founded the ''

Cape Times The ''Cape Times'' is an English-language morning newspaper owned by Independent News & Media SA and published in Cape Town, South Africa. the newspaper had a daily readership of 261 000 and a circulation of 34 523. By the fourth quarter of ...

'' together with editor Frederick York St Leger and several other partners. While still sympathetic to British imperialism, Murray Jnr. was a great deal more moderate in their expression than his father, and was accordingly more popular with the local readership of these publications.

References