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We were contacted by Bill Murray living in Louisville, Kentucky who was seeking his
roots in Stone. His father was born in Stone on October 31 1884.
My father, Sidney Murray, was a merchant marine officer who died at sea in
December 1938. Our knowledge of his background is sketchy, but I knew he was
born in England and had served, I am told, aboard King Edward VI (?) yacht as
a member of the Royal Navy.
As I indicated, I just learned that his actual birthplace was "Stone,
Strafford County, England" and his dob was October 31, 1884.
Most, if not all, of the Murray Clan emigrated to Canada and settled
primarily in Ontario Province (Toronto, to be more precise). My father was
the only one to come to the states where he continued his maritime career for
the then Atlantic Refining Company out of Port Philadelphia.
One last fact, the only reference to my father's origin (prior to
the Stone
data) was that he might have been from Liverpool. This may have been just a
general reference he used to describe the location of his birth. Is this
possible,?
My father, Sidney Murray (possibly "Sydney") was a merchant marine officer
who died at sea on December 30, 1938 (my mother's birthday). According to employment
records which I just recently unearthed, he was born in "Stone, Strafford,
England" on October 31, 1884, and had at least five siblings;
Brothers James Henry, Percival (or Percy) and
Charles, a British merchant seaman who died aboard ship in Hong Kong,and two
sisters, Margaret ("Maggie") and Addie Murray.
Most of the clan moved to Toronto and Manitoba Province, Canada. My father, who as a young
man, I am told, served in the Royal Navy and, for a time, aboard His Majesty King Edward's
yacht around the turn of the century, was the only family member to emigrate to the US
where he continued his maritime career until his untimely death at sea at age 54. My
uncle, James Henry Murray, incidentally, served in both World Wars in the Canadian Army
and rose to the rank of a Captain and/or Major.
Stone visit in
October 2000
We only found one tangible local record at St. Saviour's Church in Aston...the
baptismal record of my Uncle Percy dated August 15, 1882... we at least confirmed once
more that my father's family were natives of Stone, Staffordshire.
To our friends at Walton Priory School:
GREETINGS FROM THE BLUEGRASS STATE OF KENTUCKY, USA!
We have just returned home after a month-long visit to the UK and we all are
still talking about our new friends in Stone. We want to thank the entire
staff and student body of Walton Priory for the wonderful and warm reception
given us on that rainy Monday of October 9th and our special thanks go to our
fine "tour guides", Robert and Lucy, who were most well-informed and helpful
to us in learning about your school. We truly enjoyed, too, the opportunity
to have dinner with the students and just wish that we had more time to meet
and visit with all of you individually.
Our "Report Card": The students and staff of Walton Priory are
"Straight A"
in our innermost record books.
Thanks to each and every one of you!
Bill and Marguerite Murray
Patricia and Erkic Hacker, London
Elizabeth (Murray) Wiseman, Moorestown, NJ, USA
Gloria Quinlan, Marlton, NJ, USA
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