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| The view of //Australia's Representative Men// was that TLM-P had a 'most courteous manner and kindness of feeling'. Further, 'all classes can approach him and be received without ostentation'. His private character matched his public image, with his 'family and acquaintances' holding him 'in great esteem'. He retained strong ties to his country of birth, visiting there in 1881, 1885 and 1888.((//Australia's Representative Men//, ed. T.W.H. Leavitt, Improved Edition, Melbourne: Wells and Leavitt, c.1889, entry for T.L. Murray-Prior. The book used is the one TLM-P owned, signed by him and dated 14th June 1889. It is likely that TLM-P provided the information.)) The Brisbane newspaper, in his obituary choose to praise him by stating that 'his courtesy and urbanity won the esteem and hearty goodwill of the members of the [Legislative] Council'.((The Brisbane Courier, 2 January 1893, p.5.)) A contemporary, Arthur McConnel, described him as 'a handsome man in appearance, sparsely built, and fairly tall, with very dark eyes. he did not give one the idea that he was once a sailor, but more like an officier of a crack cavalry regiment. His style was autocratic but could unbend.' ((Pen Pictures of the Pastoralists, p.39 in Murray-Prior file, Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum))\\ | The view of //Australia's Representative Men// was that TLM-P had a 'most courteous manner and kindness of feeling'. Further, 'all classes can approach him and be received without ostentation'. His private character matched his public image, with his 'family and acquaintances' holding him 'in great esteem'. He retained strong ties to his country of birth, visiting there in 1881, 1885 and 1888.((//Australia's Representative Men//, ed. T.W.H. Leavitt, Improved Edition, Melbourne: Wells and Leavitt, c.1889, entry for T.L. Murray-Prior. The book used is the one TLM-P owned, signed by him and dated 14th June 1889. It is likely that TLM-P provided the information.)) The Brisbane newspaper, in his obituary choose to praise him by stating that 'his courtesy and urbanity won the esteem and hearty goodwill of the members of the [Legislative] Council'.((The Brisbane Courier, 2 January 1893, p.5.)) A contemporary, Arthur McConnel, described him as 'a handsome man in appearance, sparsely built, and fairly tall, with very dark eyes. he did not give one the idea that he was once a sailor, but more like an officer of a crack cavalry regiment. His style was autocratic but could unbend.' ((Pen Pictures of the Pastoralists, p.39 in Murray-Prior file, Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum)). An unidentified newspaper clipping just after TLM-P died highlighted a key characteristic: 'Despite his array of names and his early-century manner, Mr. Murray Prior was one of those squatters who worked as hard as their men' - his diaries and his second wife's letters testify to his hard physical work when at Maroon.((unidentified newspaper clipping, 31 December 1992 in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 23/5/1))\\ |
| Like other squatters,((Barry Stone, //The Squatters: The Story of Australia's Pastoral Pioneers//, Allen & Unwin, 2019; e.g. In 1860, the McConnel family also tried to prove their right to armorial bearings, [[https://cressbrookstation.com.au/the-mcconnel-family-cressbrook-today/]])) he displayed considerable anxiety about re-establishing his family's gentry status. Unlike his father, TLM-P insisted on the Murray-Prior surname rather than just Prior. It was TLM-P who wrote to the College of Heralds to confirm the family's heraldic entitlement. Once it was confirmed, he had the M-P crest engraved on many of his belongings. As in the case of this watch, it also served as a useful point of identification in case of thief.{{:dscn3872.jpg?300|}}((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) \\ | Like other squatters,((Barry Stone, //The Squatters: The Story of Australia's Pastoral Pioneers//, Allen & Unwin, 2019; e.g. In 1860, the McConnel family also tried to prove their right to armorial bearings, [[https://cressbrookstation.com.au/the-mcconnel-family-cressbrook-today/]])) he displayed considerable anxiety about re-establishing his family's gentry status. Unlike his father, TLM-P insisted on the Murray-Prior surname rather than just Prior. It was TLM-P who wrote to the College of Heralds to confirm the family's heraldic entitlement. Once it was confirmed, he had the M-P crest engraved on many of his belongings. As in the case of this watch, it also served as a useful point of identification in case of thief.{{:dscn3872.jpg?300|}}((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) \\ |