View source for James Murray (lichenologist)

{{Short description|New Zealand organic chemist and lichenologist}}
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| name              = James Murray
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| workplaces        = University of Otago
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'''James Murray''' (1923–1961) was an [[organic chemistry|organic chemist]] at the [[University of Otago]]. He was the first twentieth-century [[lichenologist]] in New Zealand.
==Career==
James Murray worked at the [[University of Otago]] in Dunedin as a senior lecturer in chemistry.<ref name="Galloway2015">{{cite journal |last1=Galloway |first1=David John |title=Contributions to a history of New Zealand lichenology 5*. James Murray (1923–1961) |journal=Phytotaxa |date=2015 |volume=198 |issue=1 |page=1 |doi=10.11646/phytotaxa.198.1.1 |url=https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.198.1.1}}</ref><ref name="Galloway2014BLSB" />
Murray began research with [[lichen]]s in the 1950s, applying his knowledge and skills in plant secondary compounds as well as [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]]. This was the first systematic work on the lichens of New Zealand since the 1890s.<ref name="Murray1959">{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=James |title=Studies of New Zealand Lichens. I—The Coniocarpineae |journal=Tuatara |date=1959 |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=177–195 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TPRSNZ1960-88.2.6.5 |access-date=8 December 2022}}</ref> He revised the New Zealand lichens within the Coniocarpineae, [[Peltigeraceae]], [[Teloschistaceae]] among others, as well as lichens from the Antarctic and Subantarctic regions.<ref name="Galloway2014BLSB" />
He spent 1959 on [[sabbatical]] working with the chemist [[Derek Barton]] at [[Imperial College, University of London]]. During this visit Murray also met with [[Peter Wilfred James|Peter James]], a lichen specialist at the [[Natural History Museum, London]]. There were extensive nineteenth-century specimens of New Zealand lichens at both this museum and at [[Kew Gardens|Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]]. Murray was able to work with these specimens and with James. They began to define the genus ''[[Sticta]]'' more precisely, distinguishing it from ''[[Pseudocyphellaria]]'' and also other groups such as ''[[Menegazzia]]'', ''[[Nephroma]]'', the [[Pannariaceae]] and the [[Parmeliaceae]] that contained more species in the Southern Hemisphere. Murray also visited several other lichenologists in France and Sweden including [[Henri Des Abbayes]], Michael Mitchell, Greta Du Rietz, [[Adolf Hugo Magnusson]], [[Gunnar Degelius]], [[Rolf Santesson]] and Einar Timdall. He returned to New Zealand in February 1961.<ref name="Galloway2014BLSB">{{cite journal |last1=Galloway |first1=David John |title=Peter Wilfrid James (1930-2014): the Dunedin (New Zealand) connection, 1962–1963 |journal=British Lichen Society Bulletin |date=2014 |volume=115 |pages=17–31 |url=https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/sites/www.britishlichensociety.org.uk/files/bulletins/BLS%20Bulletin%20115%20Winter%202014.pdf |access-date=7 December 2022}}</ref>
After his death, his lichen specimens (over 10,000), notes and papers were donated to [[University of Otago]] and Peter James was seconded in 1962 to curate the collection. Murray's work on the natural products of lichens contributed to developments in this area and also became important to definition of genera in the ''Lobariaceae''.<ref name="Galloway2015" /> He developed keys to New Zealand lichen genera, some published posthumously.<ref name="Galloway2014BLSB" />
==Personal life==
Murray was married to Audrey.<ref name="Obit-short">{{cite journal |title=Obituary |journal=The Lichenologist |year=1961 |volume=1 |issue=5 |page=280 |doi=10.1017/S0024282961000589 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C2A5DC8AA2153232BAEAD58B1B02BC2E/S0024282961000589a.pdf/obituary.pdf}}</ref> He died in a car accident on 24 June 1961.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Murray |first=J |date=30 April 1962 |title=Lichens from Cape Hallett Area, Antarctica |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TRSBOT19630419.2.2 |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand: Botany |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=59 |via=PapersPast}}</ref>
==Publications==
Murray was the author or co-author of scientific publications about organic chemistry and lichens. Some of his most significant were:
* James Murray (1959) [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TPRSNZ1960-88.2.6.5 Studies of New Zealand Lichens. I—The Coniocarpineae] ''Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' '''88''' (2) 177 - 195
* James Murray (1960) [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TPRSNZ1960-88.2.6.6 Studies of New Zealand Lichens. II—The Teloschistaceae] ''Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' '''88''' (2) 197 - 210
* James Murray (1960) [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TPRSNZ1960-88.2.8.4 Studies on New Zealand Lichens Part III.–The Family Peltigeraceae] ''Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' '''88''' (3) 381 - 399
* James Murray (1962) [https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio10Tuat03-t1-body-d2.html Keys to New Zealand lichens. Part 1.] ''Tuatara'' '''10''' (3)  120 - 128 (published posthumously)
* James Murray (1963) [https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio11Tuat01-t1-body-d8.html Keys to New Zealand lichens. Part 2.] ''Tuatara'' '''11''' (1)  46 - 56 (published posthumously)
* James Murray (1963) [https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio11Tuat02-t1-body-d9.html Keys to New Zealand lichens. Part 2.] ''Tuatara'' '''11''' (2)  98 - 109 (published posthumously)
==See also==
* [[:Category:Taxa named by James Murray (lichenologist)]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:1961 deaths]]
[[Category:New Zealand mycologists]]
[[Category:Lichenologists]]
[[Category:Organic chemists]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in New Zealand]]