Editing Harry Murray (section)

==Early life==
Murray was born at Clairville, near [[Evandale, Tasmania]], on 1 December 1880,{{refn|There has been much confusion over Murray's date of birth, which seems to have been caused by the man himself. Most publications claim his birth as 1 December 1884, which is the date he placed on his enlistment forms for the First World War and supplied to historian [[Charles Bean]]. Upon his enlistment for the Second World War, he gave his year of birth as 1885, and also placed differing years on his marriage certificates and the birth certificates for his children. However, according to {{Harvnb|Franki|Slatyer|2003|p=1}} his birth certificate states 1 December 1880.|group=Note}} the eighth of nine children of Edward Kennedy Murray, a farmer, and his wife Clarissa, née Littler. Descended from convicts on his father's side, Murray was baptised on 23 November 1885, and attended Evandale State School. When he was fourteen years of age, his parents withdrew him from school to work on the family farm. However, his mother continued his education, placing emphasis on English.<ref>{{Harvnb|Franki|Slatyer|2003|pp=4–6.}}</ref> The family later moved to Northcote, near [[St Leonards, Tasmania|St Leonards]], where Edward Murray died in 1904.<ref>{{Harvnb|Franki|Slatyer|2003|p=184.}}</ref> Harry Murray joined the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps in 1902, serving until 1908, when he migrated to Western Australia where his two older brothers had previously settled.<ref>{{Harvnb|Franki|Slatyer|2003|p=6.}}</ref>

Murray initially worked on his brother's wheat farm, before becoming a courier for a mining company at [[Kookynie, Western Australia|Kookynie]], transporting gold and mail by bicycle or on horseback. He travelled the same track on a fortnightly basis, gaining a reputation for being a crack shot with a .32&nbsp;carbine that he carried.<ref>{{Harvnb|Franki|Slatyer|2003|p=7.}}</ref> At the time of his enlistment in 1914, Murray was working near [[Manjimup, Western Australia|Manjimup]], in the south west of Western Australia, employing [[lumberjack|timber cutters]] for the [[Western Australian Government Railways|railways]].<ref name="AWM">{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/people/863.asp|title=Lieutenant Colonel Henry William (Harry) Murray, VC, CMG, DSO & bar, DCM|work=Who's who in Australian Military History|access-date=6 August 2008|publisher=Australian War Memorial}}</ref>