Hubert Murray

Sir John Hubert Plunkett Murray (29 December 1861 – 27 February 1940) was a judge and Lieutenant-Governor of Papua from 1908 until his death at Samarai. Early life Murray was born in Sydney, the son of Irish-born Terence Aubrey Murray (1810–73), and his second wife Agnes Ann, née Edwards; he was named after Terence Murray's friend John Hubert Plunkett. Murray was educated at a non-denominational school in Sydney, then attended a preparatory school in Melbourne in 1871. Between 1872 and 1877 Murray attended Sydney Grammar School where he won several sporting prizes and was school captain in 1877. He then moved to England in 1878 and attended Brighton College (which expelled him after he punched a master) and Oxford University, where he attended Magdalen College. A tall (6'3" or 190 cm), powerfully built man, Murray played rugby for Harlequins and won the English amateur heavyweight boxing title. After university he entered the legal profession, and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1885. he subsequently returned to New South Wales and worked at a legal practice in Sydney. In 1892 Murray became a legal draftsman for the Parliament of New South Wales but described his time there as "living death in Macquarie Street" and left in 1896 to lead a more adventurous life. He took an interest in the volunteer movement, and in 1898 was in command of the New South Wales Irish rifles. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel with the Australian Forces mounted infantry brigade in the Boer War. Murray held the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Australian forces and of major in the Imperial service. Sir Hubert Murray was made a Companion of the Order Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (C.M.G.) in 1914, and a Knight Commander (K.C.M.G.) of the same order in 1925. New Guinea In 1904, Murray was appointed as a judge in what was still British New Guinea. He was appointed Acting Administrator in 1907 and Lieutenant-Governor in 1908, a position he held until his death at Samarai in 1940. When Murray first went to Papua there were 64 white residents. There were of territory, much of it unexplored jungle land, with many native tribes of whom some were cannibals and head-hunters.