Richard William Murden was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 for two terms from 1953 until 1959. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

.

Murden was born in Sydney, New South Wales and was the son of a master builder. He was educated at Petersham High School and was initially an apprentice French polisher. He lost his job during the depression but later entered the furniture retail business and owned a furniture shop. Murden was active in community organizations in the Ashfield area including the Haberfield Progress Association, the The Scout Association

The Scout Association

The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...

 and the National Trust of Australia

National Trust of Australia

The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....

. Between 1944 and 1953 and in 1959, Murden was elected as an alderman on the Ashfield Municipal Council

Municipality of Ashfield

The Municipality of Ashfield is a Local Government Area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It lies approximately 10 kilometres west of the central business district.- Demographics :According to the , there:...

 and he was the mayor in 1951 and 1952. Murden was elected to parliament as the Liberal member for Ashfield

Electoral district of Ashfield

Ashfield was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, first created in 1894 with the abolition of multi-member electoral districts from part of Canterbury, and named after the Sydney suburb of Ashfield. It was abolished in 1920, with the...

 at the 1953

New South Wales state election, 1953

The 1953 New South Wales state election was held on 14 February 1953. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

 state election by 122 votes. He defeated the incumbent Labor member Jack Richardson

Jack Richardson (politician)

Jack Frederick Richardson was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 6 months in 1952-3 and a member of the Australian Labor Party....

, who had won the seat at a by-election held 8 months before the election . Murden retained the seat at the next election

New South Wales state election, 1956

The 1956 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1956. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

 in 1956. The electorate was abolished by a redistribution at the 1959

New South Wales state election, 1959

The 1959 New South Wales state election was held on 21 March 1959. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1957 redistribution...

 elections and replaced by the seat of Ashfield-Croydon

Electoral district of Ashfield-Croydon

Ashfield-Croydon was an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1959 to 1968, when it was replaced by Ashfield.-Members for Ashfield-Croydon:...

. This was a nominally safe Liberal seat composed of portions of Ashfield and Croydon

Electoral district of Croydon (New South Wales)

Croydon was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, created in 1927, with the abolition of proportional representation from part of the multi-member electorate of Western Suburbs, and named after and including the Sydney suburb of Croydon...

 and the sitting Liberal members of both seats were endorsed to contest the election. Murden was defeated by Croydon's David Hunter

David Hunter (politician)

David Benjamin Hunter was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1940 to 1976, representing three successive conservative parties - the United Australia Party, Democratic Party, and Liberal Party...

 and he then retired from public life. He did not hold party, parliamentary or ministerial office. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 1975.