Henry St Aubyn Murray (14 January 1886 – 12 April 1943) was a New Zealand architect and athlete.

Biography

Murray was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand, in 1886. He received his education at Christ's College. All Black Toby Murray was his cousin. After school, he went to the local architect Frederick John Barlow as an apprentice. Murray was the New Zealand champion hurdler from 1906 to 1910 over 440 yards. He competed for

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England. He competed in two athletic events. In the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hu ...

he was second in the heat (16.3). In the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

he was second in the heat (59.8). As the heats were held as sudden death events, he did not qualify. He is listed as New Zealand Olympian number 2 by the

New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...

. He married Ismene Nola Simms on 5 April 1916 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. She was the daughter of H. G. Simms from London who had lately lived in Christchurch. From later that year, Murray served with the 11th Field Company of the

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army (although the word corps does not appear in their name or on their badge). The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, b ...

in WWI. In 1917, he won a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

for bravery. The citation reads: As an architect, Murray undertook many commissions for the Catholic Church. His best-known work in the Church of the Holy Name in Ashburton, which is registered by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

as a Category I historic structure. The two other buildings designed by him that are registered by Heritage New Zealand, both as Category II, are the Scottish Hall in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

and the Rangiora Town Hall. Another notable structure that he designed is the Akaroa War Memorial. Murray was a flying officer in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during WWII. On Saturday, 10 April 1943, he was in a jeep that skidded on loose gravel near Whangarei Harbour and overturned. He died from his injuries early the following Monday morning, aged 57. Murray's funeral was held at St Mary's Catholic Church in Central Christchurch and he was buried at Ruru Lawn Cemetery in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Henry 1886 births 1943 deaths People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch Athletes from Christchurch New Zealand male hurdlers Olympic athletes for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics 20th-century New Zealand architects New Zealand recipients of the Military Cross Burials at Ruru Lawn Cemetery Australian military personnel of World War I Australian recipients of the Military Cross Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel New Zealand military personnel killed in World War II Road incident deaths in New Zealand Olympic athletes for Australasia