From the Archives – J F N Murray

John Murray became a pupil at St Virgil’s College on 30 January 1911, one of the first pupils. After completing his studies at the College, he joined the Federal Taxation Dept. in 1916 and remained with the Commonwealth Public Service until his retirement in 1961. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1933 and was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Letters in 1953. He was a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and the Commonwealth Institute of Valuers gave him its highest distinction – a Life Fellowship.

In 1955, John went to Singapore under the Colombo Plan as a consultant, and the following year, at the request of the United Nations, he went in a consultant capacity to Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

He enlisted in the Australian Army in 1934, being posted to the Battery 6 Field Brigade and was promoted to the rank of Major in 1943.

For years he contributed to articles on Valuation in ‘The Valuer’ – mostly written under the nom de plume of ‘Sarcophilis Harissii’ (Tasmanian Devil). John considered he was a real Tasmanian as he was born one week before the Federation. During his life, he wrote several books on valuation, the best known being The Principles and Practice of Valuation written in 1949. This work was used as a textbook throughout Australia. Dr John Murray died at his home in Green’s Beach in March 1978. He was survived by his wife, Olive, and three children all of whom were living in Sydney at the time.