1966-1967, John Murray, Mayor of Leigh

1966-1967, John Murray, Mayor of Leigh

John is believed to have been born in Rydal Street, Leigh on the 5 November 1906. He attended Sacred Heart School and became a half-time worker at the age of 12. After passing the requisite examination he started his career as a scavenger at J & J Hayes Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers Limited, serving his apprenticeship under the tutorship of Mayor and Alderman Peter Gibson.

John remained in the cotton industry as a spinner until the 1938 recession. He moved next into engineering, and then from 1940 – 1959 he joined the ambulance service. In 1959 he joined the Inland Revenue.

John had been a union member since his time at J & J Hayes but his activism became much stronger when he became a member of the National Union of Public Employees. John was Chair of the Leigh branch of the NUPE for ten years and later a member of the Inland Revenue Staff Association.

Elected onto Leigh Council around 1953, John had been Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Divisional Health Committee and a manager of seven schools including St Mary’s School in Astley.

John had a long association with Sacred Heart Church and the CYMS.

John’s wife, Hilda, had also been born in Leigh in Welch Hill Street. Hilda had a strong association with Sacred Heart Church too and had often supported church activities.

John became Leigh’s fifty-fifth Mayor on the 26 May 1966. He pledged to help the Leigh Deaf and Dumb Society during his year of office whose headquarters were based in Endsleigh Gardens.

John Murray died aged 72 in May 1979.

References

Biographical cuttings – John Murray, available at Leigh Local Studies

‘New Mayor pledges: “I’ll help deaf”‘, Leigh Journal, 02 June 1966, page 8