| A glance at the sidebar of this family history reveals one of the most remarkable aspects of this line of the Murray-Priors: the tradition of naming the eldest son Thomas. It started with the Prior family, with the first known Thomas Prior living in the early 1300s, as described in [[priors_in_england|]]. Some 300 years later, another Thomas Prior moved to Ireland and, with his son Thomas, established the family there - see [[priors_in_ireland_1636-c.1803]]. The most famous in the family, another [[thomas_prior_m-p_family_founder|Thomas (Tom) Prior ]], left a will which ensured his nephew changed his surname from Murray to Prior. He did, but did all he could to ensure the Murrays were not forgotten. After that, there was a John and an Andrew (Murray?) Prior, then Thomas (Murray?) Prior, born in 1773. \\ | A glance at the sidebar of this family history reveals one of the most remarkable aspects of this line of the Murray-Priors: the tradition of naming the eldest son Thomas. It started with the Prior family, with the first known Thomas Prior living in the early 1300s, as described in [[priors_in_england|]]. Some 300 years later, another Thomas Prior moved to Ireland and, with his son Thomas, established the family there - see [[priors_in_ireland_1636-c.1803]]. The most famous in the family, another [[thomas_prior_m-p_family_founder|Thomas (Tom) Prior ]], left a will which ensured his nephew changed his surname from Murray to Prior. He did, but did all he could to ensure the Murrays were not forgotten. After that, there was a John and an Andrew (Murray?) Prior, then Thomas (Murray?) Prior, born in 1773. \\ |
| Since that Thomas was born in 1773, there has been an unbroken line of elder surviving sons called Thomas. Perhaps as remarkable, given the past's high infant mortality, is that all those Thomases survived to reach adulthood and have a son Thomas. It is a tradition that has resulted in nine generations of an unbroken line of Thomas Priors/Murray-Priors. \\ | Since that Thomas was born in 1773, there has been an unbroken line of elder surviving sons called Thomas. Perhaps as remarkable, given the past's high infant mortality, is that all those Thomases survived to reach adulthood and have a son Thomas. It is a tradition that has resulted in nine generations of an unbroken line of Thomas Priors/Murray-Priors. Not that it was uncontested by some of the boys' mothers! TLM-P's grandson was baptised Thomas Bertram, but his mother tried 'to call him Bertie, but the sense of the family is against her, & everyone else calls him Tom.'((Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 3 December 1883, Praed papers, John Oxley Library.)) He grew up answering to Tom and duly called his eldest son Thomas.\\ |