Frances Murray was born in New York, USA in 1843 to Arthur Stoddard and Frances Stoddard, both of whom were active abolitionists. The family emigrated to Glasgow in 1844. In 1853, the Stoddard's moved to Elderslie, Renfrewshire, where Arthur Stoddard went on to establish carpet maker, Stoddard International. Frances was largely home schooled, though attended a finishing school in London in 1861. She first engaged with the women's rights campaign while visiting relatives in the USA in 1867-8, where she and her sister met Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1872, Frances married David Murray, a prominent Glasgow lawyer. This had followed a lengthy courting period, attributed in large part to the value she placed on her own independence. In a letter to her mother in 1867, she wrote:
"Indeed, here as at home, I find a woman better not have too decided views on any matter, literature, historical, social, reform or politics, if she wishes to be a man's favourite. It is hard that brains in a woman except to give herself satisfaction, are a hindrance not an asset. Well, Mamma dear, I would rather have the brains than live on empty compliments the plaything of any man."
Murray expressed her desire to enter employment at an early age but was restricted from doing so because of her gender. In her own words:
"In my young days the aim of a mother was to make her daughter pretty and attractive and sufficiently accomplished to let her marry well. Few other careers presented themselves to women."
Despite this, Murray did manage to deliver public lectures on Scottish music and organise concerts in her hometown of Cardross. She also authored books in variety genres, including in travel and poetry.
Campaign for women's education
Frances and David Murray shared an interest in various aspects of women's rights and were supporters of the Glasgow Association for the Higher Education of Women. Frances attended many lectures at the University of Glasgow and also delivered some on Scottish song and tradition. She wrote about how far women's rights had improved in her lifetime in terms of education:
"The Victorian Era burst through this bondage, and now we have schools and colleges for girls and women".
Political involvement
Murray is quoted in her daughter's memoir as saying:
"Before I die I look forward to the fulfilment of sex equality".
She and both her daughters were members of the Women's Freedom League. In 1910, Murray attended a suffrage demonstration in Edinburgh where she led one of the processions. She also encouraged her daughters to take up opportunities she was denied as a young woman. In a letter to Eunice, she wrote:
