REFLECTION MODE…AN ERA HAS ENDED...My paternal grandfather - TopicsExpress

REFLECTION MODE…AN ERA HAS ENDED...My paternal grandfather Walter Murray and Grandmother Lucetta Murray belonged to the first or second generation of African descendants after emancipation in 1838 (checking by 25 years). This couple, my grandparents had nine children, 5 girls and 4 boys who from an early age were taught the value of education and although they were not rich they attended the Clifton Elementary school now Clifton All Age every day. For those who don’t know, Clifton Hill back the was no ordinary hill to climb and all children had to trod that path four times daily, since they had to go home for lunch every day…Wow! Seven of them at different times sat and passed the 3rd year exam (this was like a college entrance examination at the time) and so seven of them became educators being graduates of the Mico College (boys) and Bethlehem Moravian College (girls). My uncle Reginald Murray later became a Rhodes Scholar and was amongst the first few to have a MA in Jamaica and later became the first Dean of the Faculty of Education at the West Indies college now UWI and had written several books on education. My father Lascelles Murray also held his own in the education field and also made his mark in the political arena being the very first PNP candidate to win the Western Hanover seat as MP (back then it was MHR- Member of the House of Representatives) and in this capacity effected great changes in the parish. He was also the first parliamentarian to advocate for land reform in Jamaica… (in those days only the rich owed land and lots of it). The ladies of the Murray clan also held their own all being extra ordinary teachers and some became head mistresses etc. That generation has now all passed… Today marks the ending of an era of the Murray clan of Mt. Peace Hanover who came from humble beginnings but is a testament that our circumstance does not have to determine our outcome; that ambition, commitment and discipline can lead us to success. I’m proud to be a part of the latter generation of Murrays… Proud of my heritage, proud of the” Murray stock”… May their souls all rest in peace and their legacy continue to shine.