David spent his life in schools and was a consummate schoolmaster. After National Service in the Royal Scots and Pembroke College, Cambridge, David taught for a while at Fettes and then Stowe. He returned to Fettes in 1964, where he became a Housemaster and Head of the English Department, finding time also to coach both the 1st XV and the 1st XI. He taught Tony Blair and as master-in-charge of Rugby presciently observed: ‘Blair is the most courageous tackler I've ever seen.’
In 1976 he rejoined his old school, Loretto, as headmaster, where his ethos was to offer 'greater scope for the individual' and to explain 'the rationale behind the instruction'. It was as headmaster at Loretto that he was able to forge his reputation for innovation with a busy development programme and the introduction of co-education.
When David arrived at Oundle in 1984, the School was thought to be ‘one of the best kept secrets in the public school world’. The previous Headmaster, Barry Trapnell had ensured that Oundle had a very high academic reputation ‘for those in the know’. Realising, however, that in an increasingly competitive environment the School would need to broadcast its reputation more widely, David set about fostering links with prep schools, travelling vast distances and often returning early in the morning for the start of lessons. Known for his geniality, tact and wisdom, he was soon in demand as a speaker and as a governor.
At Oundle, he was instrumental in preparing the School for the 21st century. His Second Master, David Sharp, said that David would go down as one of Oundle’s great innovating Headmasters: ‘if you seek his monument look around you’.
During David’s tenure the School built the Needham Physics block, The Patrick Centre, the Sports Hall and the Two Acre Club. He also converted the gymnasium to the new Cripps Library, moved the Music School to the newly purchased Gascoigne Building and relocated the Common Room. On the boarding side, the houses saw considerable refurbishment to bring them up to date and to offer spaces for the boys to relax and feel at home. Many OOs returned and remarked on the ‘civilising influence’ of the improvements.
To ensure that Oundle would continue to thrive in the future, he set in motion the mechanisms to build an endowment, establishing the Oundle Foundation.
The biggest single decision made by David was to introduce co-education to Oundle, the most significant change the School had witnessed in its 400 year history. Although he had introduced co-education to Loretto, he looked long and hard at Oundle before concluding that it would be the right decision for the School. David was pragmatic and knew when to retain traditions and when to move with the times.
He said at the time: 'Given that men and women are going to work alongside each other in terms of absolute equality to a very much greater extent, I do most firmly believe that that should be part of the education experience as well, otherwise the proud claim that headmasters are always making about preparing their children for the real world is totally spurious.
‘I refuse to say that of course co-education is ideal for everybody; I don't believe it is. But I do believe that it's increasingly relevant and that for a very large proportion of boys and girls it is actually the best form of education.’
The transition was managed with careful planning and preparation. Two new houses were built, Kirkeby and Wyatt, and were immediately over-subscribed. It was a painful decision to convert first Dryden and then New House to girls’ houses, and he handled the good-humoured protests by boys, such as wearing the new culottes to attend assembly, with characteristic tact and generosity.
Despite the pressures of strategic planning, his relationship with pupils and staff was his first priority. His colleague at Fettes, Dr Eric Anderson, said: ‘The great thing about David McMurray is that he's a complete schoolmaster.’
He continued to teach and took great pleasure in the efforts and success of every pupil, whether on the sports pitch, the CCF ground or the concert hall. Ever gregarious, he seemed to know all the pupils, their names, their parents, their houses and sports.
Together with his wife Toni’s abundant hospitality, David made Cobthorne an open house where staff, pupils and visitors were entertained daily. Toni was an inestimable support to him and to the School, where she presided over bountiful dinners, worked as a relief-matron in Wyatt and was responsible for the now iconic culottes worn by the girls. Indeed she was so well known that she had the distinction of being the only headmaster’s wife mentioned in the Good School’s Guide at that time and was described as a ‘jolly Australian’. During their time at Oundle, Toni also served as a governor at Spratton Hall.
David and Toni retired in 1999 and returned to Scotland where they strategically situated themselves next to a golf course. David remained active in schools and from 2006-2012 was Chairman of Governors at Fettes, where Lord Coe recently opened a new Astro, the McMurray Pitch.
David is survived by Toni and their three daughters.
David Bruce McMurray, 15 December 1937 – 7 June 2015.
