The family had, for several generations, farmed 880acres at Marygold in Bunkle and Preston, Berwickshire, Scotland, but came to New Zealand presumably for the opportunity it then provided to acquire and develop land.
George bought land in East Taieri and greatly expanded the family Boarder Leicester sheep stud.
[6] The Otago Daily Times described him as follows:[7] William Archibald Murray, the member for Bruce, is a tall, active, restless man, with an original, daring mind, that in the days of the Caesars or Stuarts would have certainly brought him to the gallows.
He has no reverence for existing institutions, no veneration for the powers that be, no fear of the most daring novelties, and no want of confidence in himself.In the 1881 election, he was defeated by James Rutherford.
[8] When Robert Gillies resigned from the Bruce electorate in 1885 over failing health, Murray was asked to offer himself for re-election but he declined.