Sir Murray Bisset (14 April 1876 – 24 October 1931) was a South African

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

er and politician. He captained the

South African cricket team The South Africa men's national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council. T ...

in 1899 before moving to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

where he served as Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia from 1927 to 1931 and briefly as

Governor of Southern Rhodesia The governor of Southern Rhodesia was the representative of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch in the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1923 to 1980. The governor was appointed by the Crown and acted as the local ...

Early life

Born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

, Bisset was the fifth son of James Bisset, engineer and former Mayor of Wynberg, and Emily, née Jarvis, daughter of Hercules Jarvis (MLC, MLA) former Mayor of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

.Beyes, C.J. (1981) ''The Dictionary of South African Biography'', vol. 4, Butterworth & Co., Durban. He was educated at Diocesan College,

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch ...

. W. A. Bettesworth
"Chats on the Cricket Field: Mr Murray Bisset"
''Cricket'', 1 August 1901, pp. 305–6.

Cricket career

While still at school, Bisset gained a reputation as a batsman and a wicket-keeper who could stand up to the fastest bowlers.Martin-Jenkins, C. (1996) ''World Cricketers: A Biographical Dictionary'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. . He made his first class cricket debut for Western Province on 18 April 1895 against Transvaal at

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, scoring 0 and five not out. Despite this setback, Bisset was a regular member of the Western Province side, scoring an unbeaten 124 against Transvaal in 1897, leading to his announcement as captain of the Western Province side for the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

final that year. He scored 5 and 63*, enough to secure his position as South African captain against the touring English side in 1898-99. Aged 22, Bisset remained Test cricket's youngest captain until

Ian Craig Ian David Craig (12 June 193516 November 2014) was an Australian cricketer who represented the Australian national team in 11 Tests between 1953 and 1958. A right-handed batsman, Craig holds the records for being the youngest Australian to ...

captained

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in 1957. Playing as a wicket-keeper batsman, Bisset scored 35 and 21* and took a catch and a stumping. Bisset also captained the Second Test of the series but, due to the vagaries of turn of the century international cricket it would be another 11 years before Bisset played his third and final Test. Bisset studied law and, following graduation, was admitted to the Cape Bar in 1899 and practised in the Cape before serving in the intelligence services during the

South African War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. Following his war service, In 1901, Bisset led the South African team to England in the face of fierce criticism that the tour was taking place during the war. Bisset starred on the tour, which did not include a Test, including 184 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, his highest first-class score. Returning to South Africa, Bisset continued to play cricket when his burgeoning legal career allowed. He was recalled for the Fifth Test between South Africa and England at Cape Town in 1909-10, where he kept wicket and batted in the middle order. Following the match, Bisset retired to concentrate on his legal career. In all, Bisset played 40 first-class matches, scoring 1441 runs at 23.62 with two centuries, taking five wickets at 24.40 and taking 51 catches and 13 stumpings.

Political career

In 1914, Bisset was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

as a

South African Party The South African Party (, ) was a political party that existed in the Union of South Africa from 1911 to 1934. History The outline and foundation for the party was realized after the election of a 'South African party' in the 1910 South Af ...

representative for

South Peninsula The South Peninsula is one of the four principal peninsulas on the island of Sulawesi, stretching south from the central part of the island. It is part of the province of South Sulawesi. The southern peninsula is the most densely populated penins ...

, holding his seat until his retirement from politics in 1924.''The Times'' "Obituary – Sir Murray Bisset", ''The Times'', 26 October 1931, p 19. While in parliament, Bisset unsuccessfully introduced a

Private Members Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

in 1921 whereby a widow was lawfully entitled to marry her deceased husband's brother. Following his retirement from politics, Bisset moved to Southern Rhodesia, where he was appointed a senior judge in 1925 and served as Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia from 1927 until his death. Knighted in 1928, Bisset had served as acting Governor of Southern Rhodesia in 1928 and was serving as governor again in 1931 while the Governor Cecil Hunter-Rodwell was in England, when he died in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

. He was survived by his wife, Gladys, whom he married in 1905, and one son. Bisset's brothers

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

and Arthur Bisset, and brother-in-law Archibald Difford also played first-class cricket in South Africa.''Cricket Archive'
Murray Bisset

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisset, Murray 1876 births 1931 deaths Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town Cricketers from Gqeberha South African Knights Bachelor Western Province cricketers Cricket people awarded knighthoods Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Governors of Southern Rhodesia South African expatriate judges Chief justices of Rhodesia South Africa Test cricketers South Africa Test cricket captains Wicket-keepers South African people of Scottish descent South African people of English descent