Frances Murray (suffragist)

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This article is about the suffragist. For the author, see Frances Murray.

Frances Porter Murray
Born23 February 1843
New York, United States
Died3 April 1919
Cardross, Scotland
Notable workSuffragette and women's education campaigner
SpouseDavid Murray

Frances Porter Murray (née Stoddard, 23 February 1843 – 3 April 1919) was a suffragist raised in Scotland, an advocate of women's education, a lecturer in Scottish music and a writer.[1]

Early life and family

Frances Murray was born in New York, USA in 1843 to Arthur Stoddard and Frances Stoddard,[1] both of whom were active abolitionists. The family emigrated to Glasgow in 1844. In 1853, the Stoddard's moved to Elderslie, Renfrewshire, where Arthur Stoddard went on to establish carpet maker, Stoddard International.[2]

Frances was largely home schooled, though attended a finishing school in London in 1861. She first engaged with the women's rights campaign while visiting relatives in the USA in 1867-8, where she and her sister met Harriet Beecher Stowe.[1]

In 1872, Frances married

Cardross shortly afterwards and had three daughters: Sylvia Winthrop Murray (19 August 1875 – 17 January 1955); Eunice Guthrie Murray
(21 January 1878 – 26 March 1960) and Dorothy; and one son, Anthony Stoddard Murray (16 March 1880 – 23 March 1918).

Career

Murray expressed her desire to enter employment at an early age but was restricted from doing so because of her gender. In her own words:

"In my young days the aim of a mother was to make her daughter pretty and attractive and sufficiently accomplished to let her marry well. Few other careers presented themselves to women."[3]

Despite this, Murray did manage to deliver public lectures on Scottish music and organise concerts in her hometown of Cardross.[1]

She also authored books in variety genres, including in travel and poetry.[4]

Campaign for women's education

Frances and David Murray shared an interest in various aspects of women's rights[5] and were supporters of the Glasgow Association for the Higher Education of Women. Frances attended many lectures at the University of Glasgow and also delivered some on Scottish song and tradition.[6]

She wrote about how far women's rights had improved in her lifetime in terms of education:

"The Victorian Era burst through this bondage, and now we have schools and colleges for girls and women".[7]

Political involvement

Murray is quoted in her daughter's memoir as saying:

"Before I die I look forward to the fulfilment of sex equality".[7]

She and both her daughters were members of the Women's Freedom League.[8] In 1910, Murray attended a suffrage demonstration in Edinburgh where she led one of the processions.[1] She also encouraged her daughters to take up opportunities she was denied as a young woman. In a letter to Eunice, she wrote:

"Go ahead my daughter - you possess on both sides fighting blood."[7]

Death

Murray died in Cardross on 3 April 1919 - but she had managed to vote in the 1918 UK election, the first time women could do so.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 367680960.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  2. ^ "The history of Stoddard carpets". 21 February 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  3. ^
    OCLC 52514332
    .
  4. OCLC 43864432.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  5. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56247. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  6. ^ "The Murray Collection". www.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Murray, Eunice Guthrie (1920). Frances Murray : a memoir. Glasgow : Maclehose, Jackson.
  8. ^ Administrator. "From suffragette to councillor". www.helensburgh-heritage.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
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