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A PICTURESQUE
CENTENARY
The Murdochs
of Craigow
PIONEERING AND PUBLIC
SERVICE RECORD
EARLY TASMANIAN DAYS
7
THE SECOND GENERATION.
From
such a forebear a stock of more than ordinary capacity and determination
might well be looked for. The record of the family in Tasmania well
justifies the reasonable expectation. After benefiting by the Craigow
upbringing, the doctor's eldest son, John (by tradition unalterable
James and Johns alternate unswervingly in the Murdoch line), who
accompanied his father from England in the first instance, set up in
1840 as a grain factor on the Hobart old wharf. On the death of the
doctor, Craigow was leased to members of the McRorie family, by whom the
land was worked for nearly 20 years. During that period the corn
business steadily developed until at length
 Mr. John Murdoch took into
partnership with him his eldest son, the present Hon. James Murdoch, M.L.C.
#24, and the business became known by the name of John Murdoch and
Son. This Mr. John Murdoch, as well as being an energetic and successful
man of business, took a public-spirited interest in the affairs of his
town similar to that which his versatile father had shown in the ways of
medicine and of the countryside. During the early sixties of last
century he served as an alderman, and it was during his term of
association with the then Mayor (Mr. Robert Walker) that the present
Town-hall was erected. With a mind which, despite its far-seeing
qualities, scarcely contemplated that the time would come when the
district surrounding Craigow would clamour for inclusion in a water
scheme, which should provide for the needs not only of Hobart and its
immediate surroundings, but also of the settlements east of the Derwent,
he was one of those responsible for the provision of Hobart's first
reservoir. By all who have recollection of him, he is remembered as of
the finest type of country lover and disinterested public citizen.
 As
well as his eldest son, already mentioned, there were born to him and to
his first wife, Jane Ellen Ely
#13, of Clarence Plains, a daughter (now Mrs.
T. M. Fisher [nee Ellen Ely Murdoch
#25]), and a second son, John Hugh Germain
#29. Later in life, after
the lamented decease of the helpmeet, who, by her estimable qualities,
endeared herself to a wide circle of acquaintances, he married, soon
after her arrival in Tasmania, Margaret Anderson
#14, a Scotchwoman of rare
capacity and kindliness, upon whom devolved later the task of upbringing
her husband's existing children and those that followed. Six children,
Peter
#32, Thomas
#33, Robert John
#34, George
#35, Harry
#36, and another Antonia
#37, were
added of this marriage to the group now established at Craigow, family
occupation of which place had been resumed, and afterwards resident at
Sandy Bay. On the death, in 1878, of Mr. John Murdoch, the management of
Craigow was undertaken by his eldest son, to whom the estate was left,
whilst Mr. Hugh Murdoch
#29 applied himself to the grain business. An
important development in the latter connection was the adding to it in
1892 of the milling industry, which, increasing in importance and
magnitude, finally amalgamated seven years ago with the similar business
carried on by Mr. W. G. Gibson and others, there being thereby created
the existing great enterprise of Gibson and Murdoch Ltd., in the
directing of which Mr. Hugh Murdoch continues in close association,
besides exercising the duties of a director of the Australian Mutual
Provident Society, a member of the Savings Bank executive, and chairman
of directors of the Medhurst Electrical Company.
 Adapting himself to the possibilities and requirements of modern times,
the present "Laird" of Craigow laid out the fruit acreage which to-day
makes the property so great a source of interest and admiration. The
original grant has been increased to 1,800 acres, and, in addition to
the mixed farming successfully carried on, the estate boasts the largest
privately owned apricot orchard in Tasmania, for of 170 acres planted in
fruit, apricots take up the greater part. In the present working of the
estate the Hon. James Murdoch is assisted by his two sons, necessarily
John
#39 and James
#43, the great grandsons of the original grantee. A touch of
sadness will steal into to-day's celebration in the bodily absence from
the happiness of family reunion of their brother William
#45, who laid down
his life at the war.
The
praises of the man who will preside over the commemoration will be sung
at the time of his own centenary. Suffice it to say that honoured
throughout Southern Tasmania the senior member of the clan, with his
robust kindliness and buoyant great-heartedness, ideally embodies the
characteristics and qualities which his remarkable ancestor, doctor,
farmer, and man of affairs, brought with him from Scotland a hundred
years ago. Warden of his Clarence municipality for 20 years, and for an
equal period member of the Legislative Council for Pembroke, the Hon.
James Murdoch is known in city business circles as chariman (sic) of the
Hobart Gas Company, as also of the South British Insurance and National
Executor Companies.
THE PRESENT GENERATION.
The
ability and forcefulness inherent in the Murdoch strain is strikingly
exemplified by the place taken by the remaining members of the family of
the late Mr. John Murdoch over a wide field of achievement and
responsibility. Two of the sons, Mr. Peter Murdoch
#32 and Mr. Harry
Murdoch
#36, sharing the tastes of their elder brother, cling to the land,
the former working his own Milnathort property, in the Cambridge
district, and the latter applying his energies to the management of a Riverina sheep station. Mr. Harry Murdoch at the commence-
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