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| ==== Character ==== | ==== Character ==== |
| The view of //Australia's Representative Men// was that TLM-P had a 'most courteous manner and kindness of feeling'. Further, 'all classes can approach him and be received without ostentation'. His private character matched his public image, with his 'family and acquaintances' holding him 'in great esteem'. He retained strong ties to his country of birth, visiting there in 1881, 1885 and 1888.((//Australia's Representative Men//, ed. T.W.H. Leavitt, Improved Edition, Melbourne: Wells and Leavitt, c.1889, entry for T.L. Murray-Prior. The book used is the one TLM-P owned, signed by him and dated 14th June 1889. It is likely that TLM-P provided the information.)) The Brisbane newspaper, in his obituary choose to praise him by stating that 'his courtesy and urbanity won the esteem and hearty goodwill of the members of the [Legislative] Council'.((The Brisbane Courier, 2 January 1893, p.5.)) A contemporary, Arthur McConnel, described him as 'a handsome man in appearance, sparsely built, and fairly tall, with very dark eyes. he did not give one the idea that he was once a sailor, but more like an officier of a crack cavalry regiment. His style was autocratic but could unbend.' ((Pen Pictures of the Pastoralists, p.39 in Murray-Prior file, Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum))\\ | The view of //Australia's Representative Men// was that TLM-P had a 'most courteous manner and kindness of feeling'. Further, 'all classes can approach him and be received without ostentation'. His private character matched his public image, with his 'family and acquaintances' holding him 'in great esteem'. He retained strong ties to his country of birth, visiting there in 1881, 1885 and 1888.((//Australia's Representative Men//, ed. T.W.H. Leavitt, Improved Edition, Melbourne: Wells and Leavitt, c.1889, entry for T.L. Murray-Prior. The book used is the one TLM-P owned, signed by him and dated 14th June 1889. It is likely that TLM-P provided the information.)) The Brisbane newspaper, in his obituary choose to praise him by stating that 'his courtesy and urbanity won the esteem and hearty goodwill of the members of the [Legislative] Council'.((The Brisbane Courier, 2 January 1893, p.5.)) A contemporary, Arthur McConnel, described him as 'a handsome man in appearance, sparsely built, and fairly tall, with very dark eyes. he did not give one the idea that he was once a sailor, but more like an officer of a crack cavalry regiment. His style was autocratic but could unbend.' ((Pen Pictures of the Pastoralists, p.39 in Murray-Prior file, Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum)). An unidentified newspaper clipping just after TLM-P died highlighted a key characteristic: 'Despite his array of names and his early-century manner, Mr. Murray Prior was one of those squatters who worked as hard [physically] as their men', a judgment supported by his diaries and his second wife's letters.((unidentified newspaper clipping, 31 December 1992 in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 23/5/1))\\ |
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| Like other squatters,((Barry Stone, //The Squatters: The Story of Australia's Pastoral Pioneers//, Allen & Unwin, 2019; e.g. In 1860, the McConnel family also tried to prove their right to armorial bearings, [[https://cressbrookstation.com.au/the-mcconnel-family-cressbrook-today/]])) he displayed considerable anxiety about re-establishing his family's gentry status. Unlike his father, TLM-P insisted on the Murray-Prior surname rather than just Prior. It was TLM-P who wrote to the College of Heralds to confirm the family's heraldic entitlement. Once it was confirmed, he had the M-P crest engraved on many of his belongings. As in the case of this watch, it also served as a useful point of identification in case of thief.{{:dscn3872.jpg?300|}}((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) \\ | Like other squatters,((Barry Stone, //The Squatters: The Story of Australia's Pastoral Pioneers//, Allen & Unwin, 2019; e.g. In 1860, the McConnel family also tried to prove their right to armorial bearings, [[https://cressbrookstation.com.au/the-mcconnel-family-cressbrook-today/]])) he displayed considerable anxiety about re-establishing his family's gentry status. Unlike his father, TLM-P insisted on the Murray-Prior surname rather than just Prior. It was TLM-P who wrote to the College of Heralds to confirm the family's heraldic entitlement. Once it was confirmed, he had the M-P crest engraved on many of his belongings. As in the case of this watch, it also served as a useful point of identification in case of thief.{{:dscn3872.jpg?300|}}((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) \\ |
| TLM-P's son Robert, who was 10 when his father died, described TLM-P as 'justly renowned for his courtly bearing and usage of words. He was veritably an aristocratic statesmen of old and could smile through the harshest of Parliamentary insults' The only thing that cause him to lose his temper was any insult to Queen Victoria or towards 'Monarchy as a phenomenon', on the apparent grounds that the Queen was 'his distant cousin'.((Robert M-P, The Blood royal of the Murray-Priors, 1901-05, p.14.)) This view of TLM-P has been accepted unquestioningly by other writers, perhaps most influentially in his entry in the //Australian Dictionary of Biography//. Certainly if he adopted an overly courtly bearing, it fits in with Rachel Henning's perception of him in 1863 as 'I suppose it does not require any great talent to be a Postmaster General. I hope not, for such a goose I have seldom seen. He talked incessantly and all his conversation consisted of pointless stories of which he himself was the hero.'((H. J. Gibbney, 'Murray-Prior, Thomas Lodge (1819–1892)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murray-prior-thomas-lodge-4282/text6927, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 15 October 2017; D. Adams (ed) //The Letters of Rachel Henning//, to do complete.)) Yet TLM-P's diary for 6 October 1863 suggests a more pertinent reason: he described the Henning's house as 'a comfortable humpy' and dismissed Rachel and her sister with the slighting comment that 'Mr Henning ... has unmarried sisters living with him, somewhat passed their first youth'. It should be noted too, that TLM-P may not have been at his best: he stayed with the Hennings while on a tour of inspection that would leave most people exhausted: during 54 days inspecting postal services, he rode 1,017 miles (1,636 km) as well as travelling by sea. Additionally, if TLM-P was such an ardent monarchist it did not stop him marrying Nora Barton who blithely wrote to his elder daughter that of course she thought Australia should become a republic, though she did not expect it until the next generation!((reference))\\ | TLM-P's son Robert, who was 10 when his father died, described TLM-P as 'justly renowned for his courtly bearing and usage of words. He was veritably an aristocratic statesmen of old and could smile through the harshest of Parliamentary insults' The only thing that cause him to lose his temper was any insult to Queen Victoria or towards 'Monarchy as a phenomenon', on the apparent grounds that the Queen was 'his distant cousin'.((Robert M-P, The Blood royal of the Murray-Priors, 1901-05, p.14.)) This view of TLM-P has been accepted unquestioningly by other writers, perhaps most influentially in his entry in the //Australian Dictionary of Biography//. Certainly if he adopted an overly courtly bearing, it fits in with Rachel Henning's perception of him in 1863 as 'I suppose it does not require any great talent to be a Postmaster General. I hope not, for such a goose I have seldom seen. He talked incessantly and all his conversation consisted of pointless stories of which he himself was the hero.'((H. J. Gibbney, 'Murray-Prior, Thomas Lodge (1819–1892)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murray-prior-thomas-lodge-4282/text6927, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 15 October 2017; D. Adams (ed) //The Letters of Rachel Henning//, to do complete.)) Yet TLM-P's diary for 6 October 1863 suggests a more pertinent reason: he described the Henning's house as 'a comfortable humpy' and dismissed Rachel and her sister with the slighting comment that 'Mr Henning ... has unmarried sisters living with him, somewhat passed their first youth'. It should be noted too, that TLM-P may not have been at his best: he stayed with the Hennings while on a tour of inspection that would leave most people exhausted: during 54 days inspecting postal services, he rode 1,017 miles (1,636 km) as well as travelling by sea. Additionally, if TLM-P was such an ardent monarchist it did not stop him marrying Nora Barton who blithely wrote to his elder daughter that of course she thought Australia should become a republic, though she did not expect it until the next generation!((reference))\\ |
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| The courtly politician was also typical of the pioneer settlers in that he prided himself on undertaking hard physical work. Isobel Hannah is likely to be correct when she stated that this 'cultured man, appreciating the finer things of life, ... was withal a worker in the truest sense. Popular with his employees, sharing with them a strenuous day on the run, after sheep and cattle, I have known men, who served him when young, retain to the end of their own long lives the utmost affection for Mr. Murray-Prior.'((Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', Queensland Geographical Journal, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.14.)) Perhaps because he was used to hard physical work, he could be anxious that his status not suffer. One well-known story, with numerous variations, has someone mistaking him for a bullock-driver. TLM-P was supposed to have indignantly replied that he was not a bullocky, but 'A gentleman "squattah" driving my own team'.((Patricia Clarke, The Murray-Priors at Bromelton 1844-1853 in Patricia Savage (compiled), //They came to Bromelton: a brief outline of the life and times of the early pioneers who came to Bromleton - from the pages of history, personal diaries, old letters and family recollections//, Patricia Savage, 2004, p.20; ESM-P, pers.)) \\ | The courtly politician was also typical of the pioneer settlers in that he prided himself on undertaking hard physical work. Isobel Hannah is likely to be correct when she stated that this 'cultured man, appreciating the finer things of life, ... was withal a worker in the truest sense. Popular with his employees, sharing with them a strenuous day on the run, after sheep and cattle, I have known men, who served him when young, retain to the end of their own long lives the utmost affection for Mr. Murray-Prior.'((Isobel Hannah, 'The Royal Descent of the First Postmaster-General of Queensland', Queensland Geographical Journal, vol. LV, 1953-54, p.14.)) Perhaps because he was used to hard physical work, he could be anxious that his status not suffer. One well-known story, with numerous variations, has someone hailing him as a fellow driver of a bullock team. TLM-P was supposed to have indignantly replied that he was not a bullocky, but 'A gentleman "squattah" driving my own team'. It was said to have become a widespread joke for bullockies in the area to be called 'gentlemen squatters driving their own teams' - one of a number of times TLM-P had to be reminded that he lived in a more egalitarian environment than the one he was brought up in - especially as the son of an army officer.((unidentified newspaper clipping, 31 December 1992 in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 23/5/1; ESM-P, pers.comm.)) \\ |
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| In contrast to the above story of his snobbishness, TLM-P's diary of his 1882 visit to England shows him as avidly curious and willing to engage in friendly talk with anyone he thought interesting. On the 26th May, he records a - for him - typical incident: '//passing a butchers shop I was having a look at their beef when ... [butcher] asked me if I would like to see the shop so we got into conversation and he shewed me all over asking "my missus" [actually his step-sister Jemima] to come too ... I told the man I was in the trade and had an invitation to his farm which I shall avail myself of some day ... I was glad to be able to compare [his beef] .. with ours as my eye was fresh for a comparison.//' Similarly when visiting Jemima at Portsmouth, he called into the local butcher's shop to get the men's opinion on Australian meat. The day before he had accidentally bought a 3rd class rather than 1st class ticket on the train from Rosa's to London, but soon '//got into chat with some decent men of the trade or manufacturing class and reaped as much information from them as I could. Found the Australian wheat liked// ...'.((TLM-P, Diary, 2-3 June 1882)). His 1882 diary shows considerable appreciation for the hard lot of English servants. He thought that the Misses Sterlings' servants were good because the mistresses were so nice, making it a happy home for all.((TLM-P, Diary, 17 June 1882)). One act of consideration was particularly appreciated: he gave his step-sister's servant 5 shillings as a present on her 18th birthday, commenting that it 'delighted the poor girl who told Jemima no one had done it before.'((TLM-P, Diary, 23 June 1882)) \\ | In contrast to the above story of his snobbishness, TLM-P's diary of his 1882 visit to England shows him as avidly curious and willing to engage in friendly talk with anyone he thought interesting. On the 26th May, he records a - for him - typical incident: '//passing a butchers shop I was having a look at their beef when ... [butcher] asked me if I would like to see the shop so we got into conversation and he shewed me all over asking "my missus" [actually his step-sister Jemima] to come too ... I told the man I was in the trade and had an invitation to his farm which I shall avail myself of some day ... I was glad to be able to compare [his beef] .. with ours as my eye was fresh for a comparison.//' Similarly when visiting Jemima at Portsmouth, he called into the local butcher's shop to get the men's opinion on Australian meat. The day before he had accidentally bought a 3rd class rather than 1st class ticket on the train from Rosa's to London, but soon '//got into chat with some decent men of the trade or manufacturing class and reaped as much information from them as I could. Found the Australian wheat liked// ...'.((TLM-P, Diary, 2-3 June 1882)). His 1882 diary shows considerable appreciation for the hard lot of English servants. He thought that the Misses Sterlings' servants were good because the mistresses were so nice, making it a happy home for all.((TLM-P, Diary, 17 June 1882)). One act of consideration was particularly appreciated: he gave his step-sister's servant 5 shillings as a present on her 18th birthday, commenting that it 'delighted the poor girl who told Jemima no one had done it before.'((TLM-P, Diary, 23 June 1882)) \\ |
| TLM-P generally enjoyed good health until the last years of his life. An exception was in August 1866 when he paid Dr Robert Handcock £1.15.0 for 'attendance on self'.((MLMSS3117/Box 9. According to Thom's calculator, that fee is around $168 in 2023 values.))\\ | TLM-P generally enjoyed good health until the last years of his life. An exception was in August 1866 when he paid Dr Robert Handcock £1.15.0 for 'attendance on self'.((MLMSS3117/Box 9. According to Thom's calculator, that fee is around $168 in 2023 values.))\\ |
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| This is an undated photo, but shows him in old age when he was greying and had gained weight from a more sedentary lifestyle.{{:older_tlmp20250420_135053.jpg?200|}} ((Praed Papers, MSS 8379, Box 11, item 2033, JOL, SLQ)) | This is an undated photo, but shows him in old age when he was greying and had gained weight from a more sedentary lifestyle due to his illness.{{:older_tlmp20250420_135053.jpg?300|}} ((Praed Papers, MSS 8379, Box 11/4/7 JOL, SLQ))\\ |
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| As shown in the following death certificate, TLM-P died on New Year's Eve in 1892 at 'Whytecliffe', Albion, Brisbane. His funeral notice invited his friends to attend his funeral, 'to move from his late residence, Whytecliffe, Albion THIS (Monday) MORNING at 10'clock for the Toowong Cemetery'.((Murray-prior file, Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum)).The Queensland Government House flew their flag at half-mast to honour him.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.70.)) TLM-P died from stomach cancer. While his obituary used the cliched 'he peacefully breathed his last',((The Brisbane Courier, 2 January 1893, p.5)) his death certificate reveals that, like so many others at the time given a lack of effective pain relief, a contributing factor to his death was 'exhaustion'. As could be expected, he had been sick some time. In August 1889 he wanted to travel to England to meet up with Nora and help her with her return trip home, but his doctors advised against it.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.69)) Nora was overly-optimistic, writing to her daughters on 19 November 1892 that 'Father doing wonderfully well and if he goes on improving he will soon be out of danger.'((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8)) \\ | As shown in the following death certificate, TLM-P died on New Year's Eve in 1892 at 'Whytecliffe', Albion, Brisbane. His funeral notice invited his friends to attend his funeral, 'to move from his late residence, Whytecliffe, Albion THIS (Monday) MORNING at 10'clock for the Toowong Cemetery'.((Murray-Prior file, Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum)).The Brisbane Courier (2 January 1893) reported that his funeral attended 'by a very large number of prominent citizens' with a hearse drawn by four horses and five mourning coaches (presumably that five were needed to fit all his family).((in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 23/5/1)) The Queensland Government House flew their flag at half-mast to honour him.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.70.))\\ |
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| | TLM-P died from stomach cancer. While his obituary used the cliched 'he peacefully breathed his last',((//The Brisbane Courier//, 2 January 1893, p.5)) his death certificate reveals that, like so many others at the time given a lack of effective pain relief, a contributing factor to his death was 'exhaustion'. As could be expected, he had been sick some time. In August 1889 he wanted to travel to England to meet up with Nora and help her with her return trip home, but his doctors advised against it.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.69)) Nora was overly-optimistic, writing to her daughters on 19 November 1892 that 'Father doing wonderfully well and if he goes on improving he will soon be out of danger.'((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8)) A. G. Coventry, an unknown poet, wrote //In Memoriam. The Hon. Tho. Lodge Murray-Prior//, mourning him as 'Prior, the cultured gentleman, the last of that brave band/ Whose names shall be as landmarks to the children of our land.'((in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 23/5/1))\\ |
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| | {{:tlmp_death_poem_cropped_20250415_144026.jpg?400|}}((in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 23?)). |
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| One cause of stomach cancer, from which his eldest son and second eldest daughter also died, is vitamin deficiency.((Naemi Kermanshahi M, Safaei E, Tutunchi H, Naghshi S, Mobarak S, Asadi M, Sadeghi O. Fruit and vegetable intake in relation to gastric cancer risk: A comprehensive and updated systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Front Nutr. 2023 Feb 6;10:973171. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.973171. PMID: 36814513; PMCID: PMC9939448.)) Vitamins were unknown at the time. The only reference I've found so far in the stores accounts of the station ledgers (see [[Employees, stores]]) to fresh fruit and vegetables is that of 'salad oil'. Additionally, fruit trees take time to bear, vegetables could be difficult to prioritise amongst other needs, and European settlers did not value Indigenous 'bush tucker'. It is not hard to see a link between this early restricted diet and TLM-P and his elder children developing stomach cancer.\\ | One cause of stomach cancer, from which his eldest son and second eldest daughter also died, is vitamin deficiency.((Naemi Kermanshahi M, Safaei E, Tutunchi H, Naghshi S, Mobarak S, Asadi M, Sadeghi O. Fruit and vegetable intake in relation to gastric cancer risk: A comprehensive and updated systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Front Nutr. 2023 Feb 6;10:973171. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.973171. PMID: 36814513; PMCID: PMC9939448.)) Vitamins were unknown at the time. The only reference I've found so far in the stores accounts of the station ledgers (see [[Employees, stores]]) to fresh fruit and vegetables is that of 'salad oil'. Additionally, fruit trees take time to bear, vegetables could be difficult to prioritise amongst other needs, and European settlers did not value Indigenous 'bush tucker'. It is not hard to see a possible link between this early restricted diet and TLM-P and his elder children developing stomach cancer.\\ |
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| His death certificate listing his 14 surviving children, ranging in age from 44 to 7 years old. {{:tlmp_death_cert.jpg?400|}} \\ | His death certificate listing his 14 surviving children, ranging in age from 44 to 7 years old. {{:tlmp_death_cert.jpg?400|}} \\ |