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| If you enter 'John Murray Prior' into The National Library of Australia's wonderful search engine, Trove, you will get numerous references to various court cases. A few references call him John Murray-Prior but mostly the hyphen is omitted. His death certificate names John de M.[Montmorency?] Murray-Prior as his father; his mother as Nina J. Murray-Prior.((BDM, registration number 8340/1933)) The birth of Coralie de V. Murray-Prior, with father John and mother Annie, was registered in 1908((BDM, registration number 9070/1908)). Who was John and was his second name 'Murray' or his surname 'Murray-Prior'? He excelled in re-inventing himself so it would be tricky - but interesting - to know. When he died in 1933, he was referred to as Bertram Murray, formerly known as John Murray Prior. By then he was wealthy, lived in the prestigious Eastern Sydney suburb of Rose Bay, and was described as a 'financial agent'.((PROBATE JURISDICTION. (1933, November 10). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, p.4027. Retrieved 27.11.2017 from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223540016))\\ | If you enter 'John Murray Prior' into The National Library of Australia's wonderful search engine, Trove, you will get numerous references to various court cases. A few references call him John Murray-Prior but mostly the hyphen is omitted. His death certificate names John de M.[Montmorency?] Murray-Prior as his father; his mother as Nina J. Murray-Prior.((BDM, registration number 8340/1933)) The birth of Coralie de V. Murray-Prior, with father John and mother Annie, was registered in 1908((BDM, registration number 9070/1908)). Who was John and was his second name 'Murray' or his surname 'Murray-Prior'? He excelled in re-inventing himself so it would be tricky - but interesting - to know. When he died in 1933, he was referred to as Bertram Murray, formerly known as John Murray Prior. By then he was wealthy, lived in the prestigious Eastern Sydney suburb of Rose Bay, and was described as a 'financial agent'.((PROBATE JURISDICTION. (1933, November 10). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, p.4027. Retrieved 27.11.2017 from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223540016))\\ |
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| John's major public scandal was widely reported in the newspapers throughout Australia. It involved the alleged abduction of Jessie Stewart McDonald, a 16-year-old girl in 1898. He was then around 37 years old, described as a money lender, was separated from his wife and living with another woman. Jessie was employed as a nursemaid to John and the woman's baby and was reportedly seduced by him. Jessie herself repeatedly insisted that she had voluntarily entered into their sexual relationship.((//Chronicle// 30 April 1898 p.26; Amanda Kaladelfos,'Call all male offenders by their right name': masculinity and the age of consent', //Melbourne Historical Journal//, 2009.)) Her mother Annie McDonald insisted that her daughter had been forcibly abducted. The Court found John guilty, sentencing him to three years jail.((e.g. //Coolgardie Miner//, 14 June 1898, p.5;//The Murrurundi Times and Liverpool Plains Gazette// 18 June 1898 p2.;//The Daily Telegraph//, 5 August 1898 p.4.)) John appealed but without success.((e.g. //The Maitland Daily Mercury//, 28 July 1898, p.3, 11 August 1898 p.3 and 12 August 1898, p.3; //Evening News//, 13 December 1898, p.6; //Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent//, 17 June 1898, p.4; //The Armidale Chronicle//, 11 June 1898 p.4 and 13 August 1898 p.4.)) At the same time, he was also in court accused of forgery.((e.g.// Evening News// 2 April 1889 p.6.)) 1898 was quite a year for him and the wide publicity could only have mortified the family whose name he shared - or did he?\\ | John's major public scandal was widely reported in the newspapers throughout Australia. It involved his alleged abduction of Jessie Stewart McDonald, a 16-year-old girl in 1898. He was then around 37 years old, described as a money lender, was separated from his wife and living with another woman. Jessie was employed as a nursemaid to John and the woman's baby and was reportedly seduced by him. Jessie herself repeatedly insisted that she had voluntarily entered into their sexual relationship.((//Chronicle// 30 April 1898 p.26; Amanda Kaladelfos,'Call all male offenders by their right name': masculinity and the age of consent', //Melbourne Historical Journal//, 2009.)) Her mother Annie McDonald insisted that her daughter had been forcibly abducted. The Court found John guilty, sentencing him to three years jail.((e.g. //Coolgardie Miner//, 14 June 1898, p.5;//The Murrurundi Times and Liverpool Plains Gazette// 18 June 1898 p2.;//The Daily Telegraph//, 5 August 1898 p.4.)) John appealed but without success.((e.g. //The Maitland Daily Mercury//, 28 July 1898, p.3, 11 August 1898 p.3 and 12 August 1898, p.3; //Evening News//, 13 December 1898, p.6; //Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent//, 17 June 1898, p.4; //The Armidale Chronicle//, 11 June 1898 p.4 and 13 August 1898 p.4.)) At the same time, he was also in court accused of forgery.((e.g.// Evening News// 2 April 1889 p.6.)) 1898 was quite a year for him and the wide publicity could only have mortified the family whose name he shared - or did he?\\ |
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| John continued to hit the headlines but only once again for a sexual misdemeanour. That exception was in 1902, around a year after he was released from jail, and this time it was a charge of indecent assault of a woman at Manly.((e.g. //Goulburn Evening Penny Post// 9 October 1902 p.4; //National Advocate//, 10 September 1902 p.3.)) The case against him was dismissed for lack of evidence.((e.g. //Evening News// 8 October 1902 p.4.))\\ | John continued to hit the headlines but only once again for a sexual misdemeanour. That exception was in 1902, around a year after he was released from jail, and this time it was a charge of indecent assault of a woman at Manly.((e.g. //Goulburn Evening Penny Post// 9 October 1902 p.4; //National Advocate//, 10 September 1902 p.3.)) The case against him was dismissed for lack of evidence.((e.g. //Evening News// 8 October 1902 p.4.))\\ |