James Murray (Durham politician)

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James Dixon Murray (17 September 1887 – 24 January 1965) was a British coal miner and Labour Party politician. He was born in East Howle, County Durham, the son of William Murray and Amelia Murray, one of twelve children. He grew up in a small three‑room cottage at 27 Front Street, Browney Colliery. Murray started work in a Durham pit at the age of 13 and was a hewer by 16. He had only basic schooling at East Howle Elementary but kept learning in his evenings, winning two Workers’ Educational Association scholarships.

Murray became a miners’ union official and entered local politics, being elected to Durham County Council in 1925 and becoming an Alderman of Durham City in 1937. He entered Parliament in 1942, when he was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament for Spennymoor in a by‑election after the resignation of Joseph Batey. He held the seat in the 1945 general election, and when the Spennymoor constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election he was elected MP for the new North West Durham seat. He retired from Parliament in 1955.

In 1948, Murray was one of eleven MPs who wrote to Prime Minister Clement Attlee raising concerns that an influx of Jamaicans aboard ships like the Empire Windrush could cause discord. Murray’s maiden speech was delivered on 1 October 1942, a discussion on the coal situation, and he continued to speak on wartime issues in the following years. He was publicly reprimanded in the House of Commons in 1947 for eating an orange, which irritated a Conservative MP who was allergic to oranges.

Before his election, Murray ran a shop and lived at 11 Frederick Street, North Meadowfield. He was an Independent Methodist Minister and served as President of the Browney Independent Methodist Church in Brandon Lane. When that chapel closed, he helped found the Murray Independent Methodist Church on 11 October 1958 on the Saw Mills Estate, Grove Road, Brandon, which locals called “Jimmy Murray’s chapel.” He died at Dryburn Hospital, Durham, leaving an estate worth £14,769, and was survived by his wife and three daughters.