Florence “Florey” Murray

Florence Mabel “Florey” Murray (nee Heness) was born on 18 January 1883 at Angledool, the eldest daughter of Walter “Watty” Heness and Margaret Troy. She married John “Jack” Murray at Walgett in 1898, aged fifteen, and gave birth to their first son, Victor, later that same year.

The family lived in the Lightning Ridge area during the early years of opal discovery and mining. The family remained on the field into the 1920s, with Florence signing a 1929 Western Lands petition advocating for the preservation of park space.

Florence’s father, Watty Heness, moved in with the family after the death of his wife in 1916.

The Murray family left Lightning Ridge for Bollon in around 1927. Their sons Victor and Jack were working in the Bollon district before 1924, with Jack delivering milk for the Darbys at Lightning Ridge around that time. Mae married Frank Kite in 1919 and also moved to Bollon, where they remained until the early 1930s. Jack Jr. married Millie Canfell, daughter of Mick Canfell, in the late 1920s, while Victor married Grace Rouse, grandniece of Lightning Ridge boundary rider Jack Rouse.

Florence and Jack Murray, along with their younger children, eventually settled in Bollon during the early 1930s. Both lived out their remaining years in Bollon. Jack died in 1952, and Florence in 1966. They are buried there alongside several of their children.

• Florey Murray @ Find a Grave.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney and Russell Gawthorpe, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 14; The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 124.