James O'Hara Murray

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James O'Hara Murray as a Corps student 1889

James O'Hara Murray (born January 9, 1870 in Bridgetown , Barbados , † February 1, 1943 on the Isle of Wight ) was a British mechanical engineer and tennis player .

Life

James O'Hara Murray, son of Edward O'Hara Murray, attended Harrison College in Barbados. He then studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Charlottenburg . After completing his studies, he first completed practical training at the Sangerhausen machine factory. In 1893 he went to the USA, where he was in charge of the pumping system for the World's Columbian Exposition . From 1893 to 1896 he worked for the Worthington Corporation in New York as an assembly and testing engineer for waterworks. On November 8, 1894, he married Bessie Duncan Worthington, daughter of Harry Fraser Worthington († 1889). He was the eldest son of the company's founder and inventor of the Worthington pump, Henry Rossiter Worthington . After the early death of Bessie Worthington, he married the opera singer known under the stage name Madame Nikita as a second marriage .

In 1897 he returned to Germany. In Berlin he was first deputy head and subsequently chief engineer for continental Europe at the Berlin branch of Worthington. The construction of the machinery for the large waterworks in Rotterdam, Budapest and other major European cities fell into his area of ​​responsibility. He opened his own company J. O'Hara Murray in Berlin in 1902/1903 . As director of the Sturtevant Engineering Co. he built the condensation plant and the cooling towers for the central power plant in Leipzig.

After the outbreak of the First World War , he was interned in the Ruhleben internment camp from 1915 to 1917 . In 1917 he was able to travel to England, where he founded the J. O'Hara Murray and Company, contracting engineers . For more than two decades, among other activities, he exported machine equipment, mainly to India. In 1920 he was elected a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (MIMechE).

In his third marriage he was married to Hylda Blendel (1893-1984).

tennis

After returning to Germany from the USA, Murray took part in numerous European tennis tournaments. At the European Championship in Homburg in 1899, he reached the second round. In 1903 in Scheveningen, he was eliminated in the first round. In 1905 in Homburg he reached the third round. At the International Championships of the Netherlands in 1903 he reached the third round. At the indoor championships in Stockholm in 1909, he was eliminated in the first round. At the Wiesbaden Championships of 1909 he reached the second round and the semifinals at the Wiesbaden Cup of the same year.

In 1897, 1898, 1899 and 1901 he played the international tournament in Berlin. His best result there was in 1897 reaching the quarter-finals. At the international tournament in Brussels in 1903 he also reached the quarter-finals. In 1905, 1907, 1908 and 1909 he played the international tournament in Baden-Baden, where he reached the second round. At the international tournament in Homburg he reached the quarter-finals in 1907 and 1909, the third round in 1908 and the second round in 1904 and 1905. At the international tournament in Monte Carlo in 1913 he played in the second round.

At a tennis tournament on the Riviera, he made friends with the Swedish Crown Prince. In November 1907, he and his second wife received an invitation to the Stockholm Palace for several weeks, which was echoed in the American press.

After returning to England in 1917, he was a member of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and the Queen's Club .

Corps student

James O'Hara Murray became a member of the Corps Saxonia at the Technical University of Charlottenburg in the summer semester of 1888. He remained loyal to the Corps through both world wars until his death. Noteworthy is a passage from a letter to one of his corps brothers dated December 21, 1914, i.e. after the outbreak of war and shortly before his internment, which shows the corps' apolitical stance:

"... The upbringing that one enjoys in the corps is supposed to guarantee an unchanged attitude of every corps boy. As a matter of principle, we never did politics, we only tried to make good, honest people out of young people who would later heed the principles that are taught in the corps. As far as I know, dear Bolze, I have not been lacking in this direction, and therefore I believe I can say with a clear conscience that I am a good Saxon today too and will always be ... "

- James O'Hara Murray

Others

In London, Murray was a member of St Stephen's Club and the Royal Automobile Club . The Golf Club Berlin e. V., today Golf- und Land-Club Berlin-Wannsee eV, he supported in 1913 by granting a loan of one thousand marks.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New York Times, November 9, 1894 ( digitized version )
  2. ^ New York Times, March 14, 1889, p. 2 ( digitized version )
  3. ↑ Heiner Gillmeister: English Editors of German Sporting Journals at the Turn of the Century , 1993, p. 14 ( digitized version )
  4. ^ Isle of Wight Monumental Inscriptions Record
  5. ^ New York Times, November 24, 1907 ( digitized version )
  6. ^ Carl Weigandt: '' History of the Corps Saxonia-Berlin zu Aachen 1867 - 1967 '', 1968, p. 29
  7. ↑ Carl Weigandt: '' History of the Corps Saxonia-Berlin zu Aachen 1867 - 1967 '', 1968, p. 95
  8. ^ Loan from the Golf Club Berlin e. V., drawn on James O'Hara Murray
personal data
SURNAME Murray, James O'Hara
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British mechanical engineer and tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Bridgetown , Barbados
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1943
Place of death Isle of Wight , England , UK