George Wynyatt "Wyn" Murray (4 July 1908 – 21 December 1947) was an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er who played with
Melbourne in the
Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of Alfred Wynyatt Murray (1868-1936), and Johanna Murray (1874-1940), née Gleeson, George Wynyatt Murray was born on 4 July 1908.
He married Lexie Avenel Thornton in 1932 at Brunswick, Victoria.
His daughter, Patricia Joan, born 1932, was a winner of the Australian Dancing Championship many times and also represented Australia overseas, with her husband, Ron Shelton. His son, Peter Thornton, born 1935, graduated from Duntroon in 1955, RMIT (Communications Engineering) in 1961 and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He commanded an RA Signals unit in the Vietnam War in 1968 and then went on to a successful business career.
Education
He was educated at
Marist College Bendigo.
Football
South Bendigo (BFL)
Murray played for
South Bendigo in the
Bendigo Football League in 1927 and 1928. In 1927, his first senior season, he was chosen on the half-forward flank in the combined BFL side defeated a VFL team, in Bendigo, on 13 August 1927.
Melbourne (VFL)
Murray was cleared to Melbourne in 1929, and gave the club solid service in six seasons. Murray, a left footer, missed just one game in his first two years with the club but was in and out of the side after that. A half back flanker, he represented the VFL against South Australia in 1933.
Preston (VFA)
Cleared from Melbourne to
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
in 1934, he won their best player award in 1937. He retired from the game that season,
but returned in 1938 when appointed captain-coach for the year.
Police force
Football was not a professional sport in the 1930s; and Murray had an extended career in the
Victorian Police Force
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''.
, Victoria Police had over 22,300 staff, comprising over 16,700 po ...
, becoming a detective in the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).
In February 1944 he was stabbed while attempting to assist a young woman in distress in the Snowden Gardens, across Princes Bridge (the site of
Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Hamer Hall (formerly the Melbourne Concert Hall) is a 2,466 seat concert hall, the largest indoor venue at Arts Centre Melbourne, used for orchestra and contemporary music performances. It was designed by Sir Roy Grounds as part of the Cultural C ...
today).
Air Force
In May 1944, Murray enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and he served in Madang, New Guinea for eight months in 1945. He remained in the RAAF until mid–1947, being discharged only four months before his death.
Death
No longer in the Police Force, he died (possibly of alcoholic poisoning) in a shabby rooming house in
Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population of 10,431 at the 2021 census.
Pl ...
on 21 December 1947.
Deaths: Murray, ''The Age'', (Wednesday, 24 December 1947), p.7.
/ref>
Footnotes
References
Second World War Service Record: Acting Corporal George Wynyatt Murray (149090), ''National Archives of Australia''.
*
External links
*
*
Wyn Murray: ''Boyles Football Photos''.
Wyn Murray: ''Demonwiki''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Wyn
1908 births
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Melbourne Football Club players
Preston Football Club (VFA) players
Preston Football Club (VFA) coaches
South Bendigo Football Club players
1947 deaths
Alcohol-related deaths in Australia