Elisabeth Murray

Katherine Maud Elisabeth Murray (3 December 1909 – 6 February 1998) was an English biographer and educationist. She began as an archaeological and historical researcher before accepting an invitation to become a librarian at Ashburne Hall, University of Manchester in 1935. Murray went on to become assistant tutor and registrar at Girton College, Cambridge from 1938 to 1948. From May 1948 to 1970, she was principal of Bishop Otter College in Chichester, West Sussex, overseeing an extensive construction program and introduced co-education to the college. Murray was chair of the council and later president of the Sussex Archaeological Society and published a biography of her paternal grandfather James Murray in 1978. After her death, she left gifts to several organisations in her will. Early life Murray was born on 3 December 1909, at Seatoller, 3 Hills Road, Trumpington, near Cambridge. She was the third child of the inspector of schools and author H. J. R. Murray and his wife, Kate Maitland, Crosthwaite, an amateur violinist and women's suffragette participant. Murray's maternal grandfather was James Murray, the lexicographer. She had two brothers, one of whom was the archaeologist Kenneth Murray; she was strongly influenced by both her siblings. Murray was educated at three schools because her father moved around: Edgbaston High School, Birmingham, St Paul's Girls' School, London and Colchester County High School; she became interested in archaeology at Colchester. In 1928, she was accepted to read modern history at Somerville College, Oxford, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1931. Murray embarked on archaeological and historical research, and was elected to study a Bachelor of Letters degree with the Rosa Hovey research scholarship. She graduated in 1933 with the thesis The Constitutional History of the Cinque Ports, which was published two years later. Career