James Murdoch (New South Wales politician)


Sir James Anderson Murdoch was a Scottish-born Australian politician.
He was born in Edinburgh to cabinetmaker Thomas Murdoch and Margaret Anderson. He worked at a wool warehouse before migrating to Melbourne in 1884; after a period in Brisbane, he established a business in Sydney in 1893. In 1892 he married Isabella Binning, with whom he had three daughters. His business eventually became a large retail company. During World War I he served with the Australian Army Medical Corps, holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel; he was mentioned in despatches four times. In 1918 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.
Appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council as a Nationalist in 1923, he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1928. He left the Legislative Council on its reconstitution in 1934, and died at Manly in 1939.