Career
Murray came from Bridgeton in Glasgow and in his early life worked as a Brass finisher and a pattern maker. He later moved to being a bookseller, journalist and author and settled in Barrhead. In 1894 he was elected to Neilston Parish Council, on which he served for nearly thirty years.
He also became a Justice of the Peace for Renfrewshire.
Prominent in the Cooperative movement he was sub-editor of its journal Scottish Company-operator. At the general election of 1918, Murray stood for West Renfrewshire as a Labour Party candidate, having been sponsored by the Independent Labour Party.
With 7,126 votes, he was not elected but came within 4,500 of the sitting Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament.
Murray"s maiden speech in Parliament criticised the Government for "colouring information" which it gave to the public, and manipulating the press lieutenant followed an incident in which the National Unemployed Workers" Movement had organised a march and the Government had given out biographies of the leaders to the press with an instruction not to identify the source of the information.
In April 1923 Murray moved a motion in Parliament calling for more middle-class professional workers to form trade unions and associations for collective bargaining.
The Government did not oppose his motion and it was agreed to by the House of Commons. Murray retained his seat in the 1923 general election with a majority of 3,302 over the Conservative candidate with the Liberals in third. He spoke in favour of the Guardianship of Infants Bill, which gave mothers equal legal authority with fathers, making a witty speech which observed that women"s knowledge that they had no legal rights made them get their own way "in other directions".
When the 1924 general election was called, Murray faced a single opponent in Lieutenant Colonel McInnes Shaw (Conservative) as the Liberal Party decided not to stand.
There had been negotiations between the Liberals and Conservatives for an electoral pact which centred on the neighbouring Paisley seat held by H. H. Asquith and McInnes Shaw, who had been adopted as the Conservative candidate there, retired and came forward instead to challenge Murray. Out of Parliament Murray became editor of Scottish Company-operator, and from 1927 to 1939 he was a Director of the Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society.
He had three daughters. The youngest, Marion, married Neil Maclean, the son of the Member of Parliament for Govan who was also called Neil Maclean.