Name: George Reuben Murree Rank: Seaman Fireman – Merchant Navy Private – Canadian Army Service Number: 742373, 1030362, 2005096 Service: Merchant Navy, and the 3rd Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps Date of Birth: July 1, 1886 Place of Birth: Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: June 27, 1917 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 30 Address at Enlistment: Tusket, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia Occupation: Sailor Fireman Marital Status: Single Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Mary O’Connor (Sister), Quincy, Massachusetts Height: 5 feet, 4 inches Complexion: Dark Eye Colour: Black Hair Colour: Black Date of Discharge September 20, 1919 (at Halifax, NS) Age at Discharge: 33 Date of Death: October 30, 1950 Age: 64 Cemetery: Mountain Cemetery, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia George Reuben Murree was the son of George Murree (1852-1909) and Frances ‘Fanny’ (White) Murree (1861- 1908), the brother of Stephen Augustus Murree (1884-1904), Mary Elizabeth (Murree) OConnor (1888-1958), Edward Edmunds Murree (1890-1915), Amanda ‘Nettie’ Belle (Murree) Murphy (1894-1938), and Clifford Stanley Murree (1900-1950). He was the husband of Mary Seretha (Gillieo) Forbes Murree (1890-1961), and the father of George Clifford Murree (1916-1953). Mary was previously married to WWI Veteran James Andrew Forbes (1888- 1936). The Murree’s are descendants of Jean-Marie Blanchard from Bayonne, France who settled in South Western Nova Scotia in 1804. It would appear the Murree surname evolved from the pronunciation of his first name Jean-Marie as Jean “Murree;” his descendants became known as the Murree Bertrands (Bertrand dit Murree). George’s father was born in Ste-Anne-de-Ruisseau, Argyle, Yarmouth County, NS. His mother, also born in Ste- Anne-de-Ruisseau, was the daughter of Charles LeBlanc (b. 1835) and Rosalie LeFevre. George’s brother Stephen served with the 6th Regiment of the Canadian Mounted Rifles and travelled to South Africa for service in the Boer War but was not on active service due to the close of the War. His brother Gunner Edward Edmunds Murree served in WWI with the 6th Battery, 2nd Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery, and died of illness exacerbated by service on July 8, 1915. His brother Clifford served in WWI enlisting with the 219th and served with the 47th Battalion in France; discharged June 15, 1919. In 1914, George was a crew member on the SS Yarmouth and left service with that ship on February 24, 1915, at Saint John, New Brunswick. He joined the crew of the Port Manchester on February 25, 1914, and served as fireman and trimmer until July 24, 1915, when he left the ship at Birkenhead, England. Returning to Canada in the latter half of 1915, George enlisted with the 115th Battalion on January 6, 1916, (Service No. 742373) under the name George Ruben Murree in Saint John, New Brunswick. He listed his occupation as a labourer and his sister Mary O’Connor living at 17 Albertina Street in Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts as his next of kin. He was struck of strength for desertion July 20, 1916. Less than 5 months later however, he re-enlisted with the 236th Battalion on December 6, 1916 (Service No. 1030362) in Fredericton, New Brunswick under the name George Murray giving his age as July 1, 1887, and his previous occupation as sailor fireman. He was living in Restigouche, NB at the time. He was struck off strength for desertion on July 31, 1917, but he had already re-enlisted 4 days earlier on June 27, 1917, in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Service No. 2005096) with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, under the name George Murree, listing his previous occupation as fireman and his father in Tusket as his next of kin. His date of birth was given as July 17, 1888. A seconded attestation lists his name as George Muise aka Mourree. Private George Murree departed Canada on August 20, 1917. In England he was transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps on September 18, 1917. He transferred to France on November 24, 1917 and served with the 3rd Battalion of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps from November 1917 until the end of September 1918. On September 25, 1918, he was absent without leave for a day and was arrested on September 26, 1918. He was held in confinement while awaiting trial until October 20, 1918. Murree was convicted by a general court martial for abandoning active service until he was apprehended by Military Police at the Base Depot in Calais, France. Initially sentenced to death on October 22, 1918, the sentence was commuted to 15 years of detention by General Haig on November 8, 1918. On November 24, 1918, he was committed to the No. 5 Military Prison and transferred to England on January 27, 1919. He was released in June 1919, returned to Canada, and discharged with demobilization on September 20, 1919, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. George Murree was employed as a Marine Fireman after the war and last worked in October 1945. He died suddenly of a heart attack on October 30, 1950, at Citadel Hill in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His wife, Mary, was living at 2 Tooker St., in Yarmouth at the time.

Sources: Library and Archive Canada findagrave National Maritime Museum Canada, South African War Land Grants, 1908-1910