Oswyn Murray

Sir Oswyn Alexander Ruthven Murray (17 August 1873 – 10 July 1936) was a British civil servant who spent most of his career at the Admiralty, eventually serving as Permanent Secretary from 1917 until 1936.

Biography Murray was born in Mill Hill, Middlesex, the fourth son (of eleven children) of schoolmaster James Augustus Henry Murray (1837–1915), later the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and his second wife, Ada Agnes (née Ruthven) (1845–1936). His family moved to Oxford in 1885. Murray was educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1885 to 1891, before entering Exeter College, Oxford where he won first class honours in classical moderations (1893), literae humaniores (1895), and jurisprudence (1896). he passed the higher civil service competitive examination, but won the Vinerian Scholarship. However, he declined the offer of a fellowship in law at St. John's College,

In his spare time Murray was a noted authority on Devon family history. was made a Knight Commander (KCB) in January 1917, and a Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in January 1931. In addition, he received the Order of the Rising Sun (2nd class) from the Emperor of Japan in October 1917, and was made a Commander of the Legion of Honour by the President of the French Republic in September 1919, in recognition of his service during the First World War. In 1919 he was elected an honorary fellow of Exeter College.