David Christie Murray (International) assertion David Christie Murray i(A36102 works by) (a.k.a. David Christie-Murray)
Also writes as: Merlin
Born: Established: 13 Apr 1847 Staffordshire,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe, ; Died: Ceased: 1 Aug 1907 London,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe,
Gender: Male
Visitor assertion Arrived in Australia: 1889
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BiographyHistory

British popular novelist and war correspondent David Murray came to Australia in 1889 to give a series of lectures in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. After a time in New Zealand he returned to Australia with Harry St Maur's theatrical company. He was involved in the Australian production of Jim the Penman (a popular drama of the time) and a comedy of his own, Chums.

As far as is known, only the works listed in AustLit have Australian settings, although Joseph's Coat (1881) and A Rogue's Conscience (1897) have several Australian references. Several of Murray's novels without Australian themes or settings were serialised in Australian newspapers and periodicals.

Murray's three articles on 'The Antipodes', The Contemporary Review (1891), were criticised for statistical innaccuracies and their concern with anti-British sentiment in Australian culture.

(Source: Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, 2nd ed., 1994)

Most Referenced Works

Notes

Affiliation Notes

  • Australian Colonial Narrative Journalism:

    David Christie Murray was born in West Bromwich, England, and started his writing career publishing articles in the local papers. In 1877-8, he was well-enough established to write for the Fleet Street papers (the Daily News, the World, and the London Times), reporting on the 1877-8 Russo-Turkish conflict as a ‘special correspondent’.

    By 1889 he was a well known novelist. While on his lecture tour of Australia that year, he wrote a series of reports for the Age on Australian topics, such as attending the Melbourne Cup, and travelling the Blue Mountains. His articles included the series on life in the Australian colonies, 'The Antipodes' published in The Contemporary Review (1891), which received mixed reviews. 

    Murray disappeared after his lecture tour, only to re-emerge five months later, telling friends he’d been staying with Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa. He spent the remainder of his life in England and travelling the lecture circuit of the USA.

    Selected Articles:

    Bibliography:

Last amended 18 Mar 2021 10:02:50
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