Murray went out to
British Malaya around 1880 and worked as manager in the
Penang branch of the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China. He then moved to the
Singapore branch where he eventually rose to managing director. During his 25 years of service at the bank he was credited for his valuable assistance to the Government of the Straits Settlements in connection with the issuing of bank notes, currency exchange, and other fiscal matters, and in connection with expropriation of the
Tanjong Pagar Dock, for which he was knighted in 1906. Murray was unofficial member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements from 1888 to 1906. He also had business interests in cultivation being regarded as a pioneer in the rubber industry, and in the cultivation of
ipecacuanha, in British Malaya, which it was reported eventually "brought a good reward". Murray retired in 1906 and returned to the UK and started a stud farm near
Limerick. A few years later he acquired
Barretstown Castle,
County Kildare from where he successfully continued stud farming. == Personal life and death ==