Stuart Murray
Stuart Murray was born on 9 October 1837 in Dundee, Scotland, the son of a store-keeper. For two years he studied engineering at Madras College, St. Andrews. In March 1855, at the age of 18, he arrived at Port Phillip on the John Berryman. He headed initially for the gold diggings, and thence to Kyneton where he purchased land in the town. In July 1859, he married Elspeth Stott, originally from Aberdeen and then visiting Kyneton from Adelaide. They built a house there, Morningside, and lived there for almost 60 years. They had seven sons and three daughters.

After arriving in Australia, he continued his studies privately. He qualified to practice as a surveyor, architect and civil engineer, opening offices in Market Street, Kyneton. The business conducted surveys throughout Victoria for mining leases, properties and the St Arnaud to Donald railway. For six years he was government mining surveyor in Daylesford. From 1880, Murray was employed by the Water Conservancy Board to make surveys of water supplies for domestic and stock supplies and for irrigation, in particular with respect to the Goulburn Valley. This led to a lifetime as an engineer and surveyor for irrigation schemes in Victoria, with the high-point being the design and building of the Goulburn Weir. His services were also sought for projects in New South Wales and South Australia. On 23 December 1884 he was appointed secretary to the Royal Commision on water supply. He drafted the legislation for the Water Act 1905, which nationalised the beds and banks of all streams, thus taking the management of irrigation supplies away from local control. He was chairman of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission from 1906-1908. He was chief engineer for the Victorian Water Supply from 1886 to his retirement in 1908.

Murray was a founder of the Victorian Institute of Surveyors in 1874 and its first secretary. He was made a Chevalier de Merite Agricole de la Republique Francaise (he had translated French works on engineering and viticulture into English). He died at his home in Kyneton on 12 April 1919.

(Sources: V. Yule (1974) Murray, Stuart (1837-1919), civil engineer and administrator. In: Douglas Pike (ed.) Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 5. Melbourne University Press, pp. 322-323. Kenyon, A. S. (1921) Stuart Murray and Irrigation in Victoria. Victorian Historical Magazine, Vol. 10, pp. 112-122.)