William Richard Murray came to Australia with
his parents and siblings in 1856, his father J.H. Murray taking up a position of
teacher opening the first National School in 1866. On 29th
April 1876 E. N. Murray, brother of W. R. Murray, opened his hardware business
in a small 12’ x 24’ shop. W. R. Murray acquired Charles Tuke’s general store
in 1877 opened his own business in Church Street. In this store the residents were able to
purchase “Pianofortes and American Organs on easy terms and sewing machines on
time payment, no interest” this was pioneering the field of selling by time
payment. About the same time E. N.
Murray, brother of W. R. Murray, opened another hardware and crockery shop on
the other side of the street selling hardware and crockery.
In 1884 the brothers join forces - E.N. Murray
joining his brother on the site; this was the beginning of the firm “Murray
Brothers”. A furniture section was added
to the many other branches of the business. They were importing goods, selling
pianos & organs and manufacturing household items like clothes and
jams. At one stage the furniture and jam
factories were located in the old Ice Works in Smith Street beside the river.
Their progress resulted in Murray Brothers becoming a household name in
Parramatta.
Murray Brothers purchased the Woollen Mill from
the French family in 1887 for 2000 pounds and operated under the name of Parramatta
Woollen Mill. They installed the
machinery acquired from the Byrnes Australian Mill in Granville. Water from the nearby Hunts Creek was used for
scouring the wool which was then dried in the sun, sorted, carded and woven
into medal winning rugs and blankets. Parramatta
Woollen Mills won gold medals at Royal Agriculture show in Sydney in 1897, 1898
and 1899 for rugs and blankets. In 1908 Parramatta Woollen Mills won gold medal
at Franco-British exhibition for uniforms. In 1911 the mill was sold to A. E.
Daking Smith.
Murray Brothers employed over 100 people
working in the shop and the various factories also the woollen mills. The items supplied by these factories were
sold in the shop.
In 1889 Murray Brothers erected Parramatta’s
first shopping emporium on the corner of Church and Macquarie Streets at a cost
of 10,000 pounds which supplied all trades.
Household items were also sold i.e. furniture and furnishing, crockery,
pianos, organs, clothes and jams. In 1890s Murray Brothers received a
Certificate of Merit for colonial made furniture by Royal Agriculture Society.
During 1903 Murray Brothers was divided into
two companies, Murray Brothers Ltd. and Murrays Limited, maintaining separate
but adjacent businesses. Drapery and
furniture was under the control of Murray Brothers and the hardware section
under the control of Murrays Limited. W.
R. Murray became sole proprietor of Murray Brothers. The plumbing section was taken over by T. H.
Harvey and E. N. Murray and became Harvey and Sons Pty. Ltd.
During the Second World War Murray Brothers
donated 1000 pounds to the war effort.
A new store was built on the north west corner
of Church and Macquarie Streets after the National School was demolished in
c1924. Murray Brothers acquired extra
property in August 1958 at the rear and a four storey building was erected with
a Marsden Street frontage. Fire guttered
the furniture factory at the rear of the store damaging stores of furniture and
expensive cabinet making machinery. Damage bill running into many thousands of
pounds.
In 1947, Murray Brothers manufactured their
last consignment of Blind and Curtain.
Also that year the business was purchased by Burns Philp and Co. Ltd.
1st May 1954, Murray Brothers
purchased the site from the Church of England for 250,000 pounds. A store was built on the site while the land
was still under the lease from the church.
Murray Brothers expanded to become Parramatta’s
oldest and highly respected departmental store with the policy of supplying the
needs of residents in and around Parramatta. Murray Brothers closed their doors
in 1978 after 102 years of trading in Parramatta. They stayed in the Parramatta location not
spreading their wings into other suburbs.
References:
T Kass, C Liston and John McClymont, Parramatta: A Past Revealed, Parramatta City
Council, Parramatta, 1996
Murray Brothers, Vertical File, Local Studies
and Family History Library, Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre
Photos from , Local Studies and Family History
Library, Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre
No comments:
Post a Comment