George Wynyatt "Wyn" Murray (4 July 1908 – 21 December 1947) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family The son of Alfred Wynyatt Murray (1868-1936),Deaths: Murray, The Age, (Thursday, 30 July 1936), p.1. and Johanna Murray (1874-1940), née Gleeson,Deaths: Murray, The Argus, (Tuesday, 30 July 1940), p.4. George Wynyatt Murray was born on 4 July 1908.
He married Lexie Avenel Thornton in 1932 at Brunswick, Victoria.
His daughter, Patricia Joan, born 1932, was a winner of the Australian Dancing Championship many times and also represented Australia overseas, with her husband, Ron Shelton. His son, Peter Thornton, born 1935, graduated from Duntroon in 1955, RMIT (Communications Engineering) in 1961 and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He commanded an RA Signals unit in the Vietnam War in 1968 and then went on to a successful business career.
Education He was educated at Marist College Bendigo.
Football South Bendigo (BFL) Murray played for South Bendigo in the Bendigo Football League in 1927 and 1928.South Bendigo Club, The Age, (Monday, 5 November 1928), p.4; South Bendigo Club, The Age, (Friday, 18 January 1929), p.8. In 1927, his first senior season, he was chosen on the half-forward flank in the combined BFL side defeated a VFL team, in Bendigo, on 13 August 1927.Bendigo's Strong Eighteen, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 6 August 1927), p.76; One Point Victory: League Defeated at Bendigo, The Argus, (Monday, 15 August 1927), p.6.
Melbourne (VFL) Murray was cleared to Melbourne in 1929,Bendigo League, The Age, (Friday, 12 April 1929), p.6. and gave the club solid service in six seasons. Murray, a left footer, missed just one game in his first two years with the club but was in and out of the side after that. A half back flanker, he represented the VFL against South Australia in 1933.Holmesby & Main (2007).
Preston (VFA) Cleared from Melbourne to Preston in 1934,League Permits, The Argus, (Thursday, 5 July 1934), p.14. he won their best player award in 1937. He retired from the game that season, but returned in 1938 when appointed captain-coach for the year.
Police force
Football was not a professional sport in the 1930s; and Murray had an extended career in the Victorian Police Force, becoming a detective in the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).
In February 1944 he was stabbed while attempting to assist a young woman in distress in the Snowden Gardens, across Princes Bridge (the site of Hamer Hall, Melbourne today).Detectives Seeking Gardens Stabber, The Herald, (Saturday, 26 February 1944), p.3.
Air Force In May 1944, Murray enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and he served in Madang, New Guinea for eight months in 1945. He remained in the RAAF until mid–1947, being discharged only four months before his death.
Death No longer in the Police Force, he died (possibly of alcoholic poisoning) in a shabby rooming house in Fitzroy, Victoria on 21 December 1947.Dead Man was Former Detective, The Argus, (Tuesday, 23 December 1947), p.3; Sport Idol dies in Slum House, The (Sydney) Truth, (Sunday, 28 December 1947), p.28; Ex-Detective Found Dead, The (Perth) Daily News, (Tuesday, 23 December 1947), p.12.Deaths: Murray, The Age, (Wednesday, 24 December 1947), p.7.
Footnotes
References Second World War Service Record: Acting Corporal George Wynyatt Murray (149090), National Archives of Australia.
External links
Wyn Murray: Boyles Football Photos. Wyn Murray: Demonwiki.