Biography

Eleanor Child Murray (1867 - 1958) and her sister Lilias (linked) were the daughters of Thomas Ayton Murray and Mary Jemima Ford, who married at Stanley, on 15^th December 1866. 

The education of the two girls culminated in them being among the earliest women to obtain their B.A. degrees at the University of Tasmania. Both became school teachers and at one time were both teaching at the Launceston Girls' Grammar School in Elizabeth Street.

Both girls devoted most of their lives to the Church Missionary Society, the Red Cross and St. John's Church where they worked as Sunday School teachers. Eleanor was awarded the Red Cross Order of Merit.

The girls' mother, Mary Jemima Ford, was the daughter of Frederick Wilabraham Ford and Eleanor Elizabeth King. Frederick came to Van Diemen's Land in 1841 and settled in Launceston. In 1857 he took up the rental of 'Highfield House' at Stanley, originally the property of the Van Diemen's Land Company. Eventually in 1914 a son, Henry, purchased the property for the family who continued to live there until 1931 when it was sold.

Frederick W. Ford was the founder of the Tasmanian branch of the Fords of Staffordshire, England, whose family records date back to the thirteenth century.

Eleanor and Lilias continued to reside in Elizabeth Street, Launceston.

Lilias died on 26^th August 1949 and Eleanor died on 8^th June 1958. Although these sisters never married, the Tasmanian branch of the Ford family has members still living.

In memory of the two sisters a brass plaque was erected above the choir stalls at St. John's Church. The inscription reads:
ELEANOR CHILD MURRAY 1867 - 1958
LILIAS FORD MURRAY 1870 - 1949
SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS
AND ACTIVE WORKERS FOR THE CHURCH
IN WHOSE MEMORY A DONATION WAS MADE FOR THIS ORGAN

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