William Harvey Murray (September 2, 1916 – July 7, 1991) was a political figure in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. He represented

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

from 1956 to 1972 as a

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

member. He was born in Wallyford, a community on the outskirts of

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the son of Robert Kirkwood Murray and Agnes Gordon Harvey. Murray was a clerk with the British Columbia Forest Service, owned and managed the Crest Hotel in Prince Rupert and also worked as an accountant. He served in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

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 ...

. In 1946, he married Gwyneth Margaret Walker. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the British Columbia assembly in 1953. Murray was speaker for the British Columbia assembly from 1964 to 1972. He was defeated by

Graham Lea Graham Richard Lea (March 6, 1934 – April 3, 2013) was a broadcaster, politician and corporate leader in British Columbia. He represented Prince Rupert in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1972 to 1986 as a New Democratic Part ...

when he ran for reelection in 1972. He died in 1991 of lung cancer.

References

1916 births 1991 deaths Scottish emigrants to Canada Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub