Obituaries Australia

We regret to have to record the death ot Mr. John Murray, of Murray Vale, Mount Crawford, at the age of 73, whose fame as a breeder of pedigree sheep is known through out Australia. He arrived in the colony in the early days, and soon established himself as a sheepfarmer. He devoted a great deal of time and attention to the improvement of the breed of sheep, and was so successful that he invariably carried off prizes at the principal Agricultural Shows of the colonies. The medal of the Great Exhibition in London in 1862 was awarded to Mr. Murray for fineness of quality and size of rams' fleeces, as was also the gold medal of the South Australian Agricultural Society, presented by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, for combing Merino wool, and also the special prize cups of the South Australian Agricultural Society for combing Merino wool shorn in the years 1870 and 1871, besides that for the wool taken from grass-fed sheep in 1872; and also the first prize for fleecee shorn in 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879 (second in 1880), 1881, 1882, 1883, and 1884 (second in 1885), and at the Great Philadelphia International Exhibition in 1876 the medal, diploma, and report for six fleeces of choice selection of combing Merino wool, of long staple and excellent quality, fleeces weighing over 15 lb. A sale of Mr. Murray's noted Merino rams was advertised to take place this week. The deceased gentleman was a brother to the Hon. A. B. Murray, M.L.C. The remains of the late Mr. John Murray were interred in the Mount Crawford Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon, September 14. Among those who were present at the grave were — Messrs. John Murray, T. H. Murray, A. J. Murray, W. A. Murray, sons; Hon. A. B. Murray, M.L.C., William Murray, brothers; D. D. Murray, P. M. Murray, nephews; Lindlay Murray, Murray Dawson, Douglas Crozier, grandsons; also Messrs. Thomas Fotheringham, J.P., George Melrose, W. H. Charnock, J.P., William Gilbert, J.P., John Warren, J.P., R. R. Keynes, R. Fotheringham, Dr. Richter, William Shannon, G. B. Skethaway, E. Brice, J.P., H. Dutton, A. Shannon, W. Scott, J.P., R. Ross, S. F. Fotheringham, George Warren, D. Fotheringham, F. Thomson, T. Melrose, John Melrose, R. Rankine, T. O. Jones, J. Logan, H. Bishof, and others. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. Thomas Gray, of Mount Pleasant.