13552: James Macdonald Murray

James (1850-1886) was a son of Donald Murray and Christina Macdonald of the Parish Schoolhouse, Keose.

James worked as a clerk in the Railway Clearing House in London; he edited the magazine The Crofter Monthly. In 1886 he returned to live at Knockiandue Schoolhouse, Keose, suffering in part from exhaustion relating to his crofting campaigning. He died shortly afterwards and his funeral at Sandwick, Stornoway was attended by a huge number of people. His gravestone carries the inscription: “His soul was generous and mild. As one of the founders of the Highland Land Law Reform Association, he served the Highland people with disinterested zeal and devotion”.