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| ====== Why a Murray-Prior history? ====== | ====== Why a Murray-Prior history? ====== |
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| In December 1838, TLM-P travelled to [[wp>Gravesend|Gravesend]], at the mouth of the Thames River, and boarded the //Roxburgh Castle// to sail from England to Australia. He had turned 19 only a month previously and, not unusually, the trip involved a lethal outbreak of disease and a near shipwreck. It took five months to arrive in New South Wales, a penal colony where the land was being brutally wrested from its Aboriginal inhabitants. TLM-P had limited money; no family in the colony; and knew no-one other than an 'old friend', Dr Charles Scott, his cabin-mate on board ship.((TLM-P, Draft memoirs of a voyage from London to Sydney on the 'Roxburgh Castle' [c.1879], MLMSS6576 (copied from Praed papers, Oxley Library.)) What motivated him to take such a dangerous journey? Why would any parents risk their son in a venture that meant they may never see him again? How did he survive, and thrive, largely on his own at such a young age? This family history helps answer these questions. In doing so, it records fascinating characters and great stories, and provides an intriguing window on the past. We try to give as much context as is needed to understand the family history, but equally hope that family members help us understand the past. TLM-P is its focus point as he was the founder of the largest (but not the only) branch of the Murray-Prior family in Australia.\\ | In December 1838, TLM-P travelled to [[wp>Gravesend|Gravesend]], at the mouth of the Thames River, and boarded the //Roxburgh Castle// to sail from England to Australia. He had turned 19 only a month previously and, not unusually, the trip involved a lethal outbreak of disease and a near shipwreck. It took five months to arrive in New South Wales, a penal colony where the land was being brutally wrested from its Aboriginal inhabitants. TLM-P had limited money; no family in the colony; and knew no-one other than an 'old friend', Dr Charles Scott, his cabin-mate on board ship.((TLM-P, Draft memoirs of a voyage from London to Sydney on the 'Roxburgh Castle' [c.1879], MLMSS6576 (copied from Praed papers, Oxley Library.)) What motivated him to take such a dangerous journey? Why would any parents risk their son in a venture that meant they may never see him again? How did he survive, and thrive, largely on his own at such a young age? This family history helps answer these questions. In doing so, it records fascinating characters and great stories, and provides an intriguing window on the past. We try to give as much context as is needed to understand the family history, but equally hope that these individual lives help us understand the past. TLM-P is its focus point as he was the founder of the largest (but not the only) branch of the Murray-Prior family in Australia.\\ |
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| {{ :tlmp.jpg?250}} Photo: Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior 1819-92 (referred to as **TLM-P** in this history) in a photo designed to project confidence and prosperity. ((Provenance: J. Godden.))\\ | {{ :tlmp.jpg?250}} Photo: Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior 1819-92 (referred to as **TLM-P** in this history) in a photo designed to project confidence and prosperity. ((Provenance: J. Godden.))\\ |
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| ==== About this website ==== | ==== About this website ==== |
| There is considerable information about the Murray-Prior family, but it is scattered and some of it is misleading. So, on the initiative of Tom A. and M. Therese M-P,((Tom is a descendant of TLM-P and his first wife. When we list T.A & M.T. M-P under provenances of an item, it has come down the family line to succeeding Thomas M-Ps, or been acquired by Tom A. and M. Therese M-P.)) we are integrating this information, matching it up and verifying it when we can. It is written by [[http://Judithgodden.com.au|Judith Godden]]((Judith is a descendant of TLM-P and his second wife Nora. When Judith is listed under an item's provenance, it has generally come down the line from Nora M-P to her children Robert and/or Ruth, then from her father to Judith.)) with web know-how supplied by John Cameron. \\ | There is considerable information about the Murray-Prior family, but it is scattered and some of it is misleading. So, on the initiative of **Tom A. and M. Therese M-P**,((Tom is a descendant of TLM-P and his first wife. When we list T.A & M.T. M-P under provenances of an item, it has come down the family line to succeeding Thomas M-Ps, or been acquired by Tom A. and M. Therese M-P.)) we are integrating this information, matching it up and verifying it when we can. It is written by **Judith Godden** [[http://Judithgodden.com.au|Judith Godden]]((Judith is a descendant of TLM-P and his second wife Nora. When Judith is listed under an item's provenance, it has generally come down the line from Nora M-P to her children Robert and/or Ruth, then from her father to Judith.)) with web know-how supplied by **John Cameron**. \\ |
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| This website first explores what is known about the family in England and Ireland, then in Australia. It aims to be comprehensive, but does //not// need to be read linearly - you can pick your own starting point and click on as many links as you want for further information - or none at all.\\ | This website first explores what is known about the family in England and Ireland, then in Australia. It aims to be comprehensive, but does //not// need to be read linearly - you can pick your own starting point and click on as many links as you want for further information - or none at all.\\ |
| ==== Thomas M-Ps ==== | ==== Thomas M-Ps ==== |
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| 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. \\ |
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| 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. \\ |