George Henry Murray was a Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 politician who served as the province's ninth Premier

Premier of Nova Scotia

The Premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister for the Canadian province of Nova Scotia who presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of the political party which has the most seats in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly...

 for twenty-seven years, the longest unbroken tenure for a head of government in Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 history

History of Canada

The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Canada has been inhabited for millennia by distinctive groups of Aboriginal peoples, among whom evolved trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and social hierarchies...

. He was born in Grand Narrows, Nova Scotia

Grand Narrows, Nova Scotia

Grand Narrows is a community in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is at 45°57′24″ N, 60°47′32″ W.-Origin of name:...

Despite his later political longevity, Murray's early political career was marked by inability to get elected. He lost five consecutive elections at the federal and provincial level before finally winning a seat. Despite his electoral failures he was highly regarded within the Liberal Party and was nominated by Premier William Stevens Fielding

William Stevens Fielding

William Stevens Fielding, PC was a Canadian Liberal politician, the seventh Premier of Nova Scotia , and the federal finance minister 1896–1911 and 1921–25.-Early life:...

 to succeed him when Fielding left provincial politics in 1896 to join the federal cabinet of Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....

. Murray was sworn in as premier and took a seat in the legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 when he was acclaimed as a candidate in Victoria County.

As premier, Murray was a practitioner of brokerage politics. His government continued the public works projects of his predecessor in the area of rail (doubling the tracks in the province within a decade), road and bridge construction. It also improved post-secondary education, particularly in the area of agriculture and vocational education in founding an agricultural college at Truro as well as the Nova Scotia Technical College

Technical University of Nova Scotia

The Technical University of Nova Scotia was a university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada until it became part of Dalhousie University in 1997. It was formerly the Nova Scotia Technical College and is today the Sexton Campus of Dalhousie University.In the early 1900s, at the request of the province...

.

In 1906, the Liberals instituted prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

. The Murray government also introduced workers compensation in 1916 and instituted women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...

 in 1918.

The Murray government also introduced progressive labour legislation such as the Factories Act in 1908 and workman's compensation for injuries on the job in 1915. In the area of public health the Murray government appointed public health officers, establishing county health clinics and founded a research hospital for tuberculosis patients.

After almost three decades in power Murray retired from politics in January 1923. He twice declined the offer of knighthood and twice refused earlier offers to join the federal Cabinet of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He died in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

His son George Belcher Murray

George Belcher Murray

George Belcher Murray was a political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Cape Breton North in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1937 to 1941 as a Liberal member....

later served in the provincial assembly.