Frances Murray

Frances Porter Murray (née Stoddard, 23 February 1843 – 3 April 1919) was a suffragist raised in Scotland, an advocate of women's education, a lecturer in Scottish music and a writer. Early life and family Frances Murray was born in New York, USA in 1843 to Arthur Stoddard and Frances Stoddard, both of whom were active abolitionists. The family emigrated to Glasgow in 1844. In 1853, the Stoddard's moved to Elderslie, Renfrewshire, where Arthur Stoddard went on to establish carpet maker, Stoddard International. Frances was largely home schooled, though attended a finishing school in London in 1861. She first engaged with the women's rights campaign while visiting relatives in the USA in 1867-8, where she and her sister met Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1872, Frances married David Murray, a prominent Glasgow lawyer. This had followed a lengthy courting period, attributed in large part to the value she placed on her own independence. In a letter to her mother in 1867, she wrote:"Indeed, here as at home, I find a woman better not have too decided views on any matter, literature, historical, social, reform or politics, if she wishes to be a man's favourite. It is hard that brains in a woman except to give herself satisfaction, are a hindrance not an asset. Well, Mamma dear, I would rather have the brains than live on empty compliments the plaything of any man."The couple moved to Cardross shortly afterwards and had three daughters: Sylvia Winthrop Murray (19 August 1875 – 17 January 1955); Eunice Guthrie Murray (21 January 1878 – 26 March 1960) and Dorothy; and one son, Anthony Stoddard Murray (16 March 1880 – 23 March 1918).