John "Jack" Murray

   Cause of his death was Alzheimer's disease.

  General Notes:

First white child born in Skipton (known then as Emu Creek) in 1855. His family moved to Burrumbeet-Learmmonth in 1856 to be near his mother's family, but in 1866 they moved to Lake Bolac. The Common School at Parupa 854 [Lake Bolac] opened in January 1867, and Jack attended with his sister Merran and brothers Ewen, Louis and Angus. He left school at the end of 1867 having passed an examination at standard 2 level.

After marrying, he lived with his wife and children in Lake Bolac on the south side of the present Glenelg Highway 6 houses down (west) from the Lake Bolac Hotel, alongside a lane (Murray's Lane) - the present site of the Lake Bolac Motel. The family grew up in the 1890's depression which were financially poor times. Jack built the sale yards in Lake Bolac and played the concertina and the tin whistle, whilst his brothers George and Alex were good step-dancers who entertained at concerts and dances with Irish jigs.

After the untimely death of his wife from appendicitis in 1907, Jack went to live with his brother Alex and his wife Katie in Mortlake Road, Lake Bolac, and started to drink with James Ford at the Lake Bolac Hotel. Later, he lived for a couple of years with his youngest brother James and his wife Marion at "Kildonan" (between Lake Bolac and Wickliffe, on the north side of Glenelg H'way), before moving to live with his daughter Georgina in Caulfield, Melbourne. As his Alzheimer's dementia worsened, he wandered from home, and was moved to the Cheltenham Old Man's Home on the corner of Warrigal and Heatherton Roads (next to Kingston Heath GC) where he later died.

A letter written by Frank McDonald Murray on 27/01/1977 describes "Uncle Jack":
"He had music in his blood, worked and played hard, and was a true pioneer in a time that enriched our national life."

  Research Notes:

Check day of birth - Frank Murray records 16/04/1856

  Medical Notes:

Started drinking after his wife died.

John married Catherine "Kate" Green on 21 Aug 1882 in St James Anglican Church, Mortlake, VIC. (Catherine "Kate" Green was born in 1861 in Woorndoo, died on 6 May 1907 and was buried in 1907 in Lake Bolac Cemetery, Lake Bolac, Victoria.). The cause of her death was Peritonitis (burst appendix).