David Christie Murray | |
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| Born | (1847-04-13)13 April 1847 High Street,West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 1 August 1907(1907-08-01) (aged 60) London, England |
| Resting place | Hampstead[1] |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupations |
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David Christie Murray (13 April 1847 – 1 August 1907) was an English journalist, who also wrote fiction.[2]
Murray was born in a home at High Street,West Bromwich, Staffordshire,[3] one of six sons and five daughters of William Murray and Mary Withers; he was educated in West Bromwich and Spon Lane.[1] At the age of twelve, he joined his father's printing business. At age eighteen, he was sent to London for more training for the printing business, but, after a failed attempt at romance, he instead enlisted with the army. He became a private with the4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards.[4] After being bought out of the service by a great aunt, he became a journalist. Initially he wrote leaders for theWednesbury Advertiser, then worked for the newspaperBirmingham Morning News reporting on police cases. In 1871, he married Sophie Harris, with whom he had a daughter, who died young. He had four children out of wedlock.[1]
Murray reported on theRusso-Turkish War during 1877–1878, then quit journalism to write fiction.[5] He spent a year touring England for a series of articles published inThe Mayfair Magazine.[6] About 1879 he married his second wife, Alice, and the couple had a son, Archibald.[1] That year, Murray's storyA Life's Atonement appeared inChamber's Journal, followed byJoseph's Coat in 1880. The late 19th-century authorGeorge Gissing wrote in his diary that he had "heard of the book as good; of course find it very poor."[7] His 1882 novelBy the Gate of Les was serialised inCornhill Magazine andAunt Rachel (1886) inThe English Illustrated Magazine.[5] From 1881 to 1886 he lived in Belgium and France and from 1889 to 1896 inNice, France. Murray was well traveled and a success as a lecturer.[1] During 1889, he gave a lecture tour in Australia, then during 1890 assisted productions there of the theatre company of Harry St. Maur.[2] During 1884–1885 he lectured in Canada and the United States.[1]
His work of criticism,My Contemporaries In Fiction, included "Under French encouragement: Thomas Hardy". In that essay he challenged some of the features ofHardy's later novels, in particularJude the Obscure, the characterization in it of Sue Bridehead, and its effect on impressionable readers: "one of the gravest dangers which beset women is that of hysterical self-deception ... to make them believe that their emotions are worthy of the great human heart is to increase their morbid temptations."[8]
His financial difficulties increased in his later years, exacerbated by illness. One of his stories was completed when he was in the infirmary ofHM Prison Wandsworth.[9]
Murray died in London after a long period of illness.[1]
