Mill Hill School where Murray taught

Mill Hill School where Murray taught was a distinguished London public school whose grounds became closely connected with James Murray’s work on the Dictionary. After he left the Chartered Bank of India and returned to teaching, the school provided the setting for the editorial base from which he organized the project’s next phase.

Identity and Setting

The account identifies Mill Hill School where Murray taught as a distinguished London public school. Its significance here is tied to Murray’s employment there: the school was not simply a point in his teaching career, but the place where he established the working base for his Dictionary editorship.

Murray’s Teaching and Editorial Work

After the Dictionary project had stalled under Frederick Furnivall, Murray was approached as a potential editor. He supplied specimen pages, and the Oxford University Press eventually agreed to proceed with the work. Murray had returned to teaching at Mill Hill School where Murray taught after leaving the bank; within days of the formal agreement, he decided to build a corrugated-iron shed in the school grounds and edit the Dictionary from there.

The School’s Role in the Project

The shed made the school grounds an operational centre for the Dictionary. From there, Murray also prepared a four-page appeal to English-speaking readers in Britain, America, and the colonies, seeking volunteers to read books and extract evidence. The appeal circulated through newspapers, bookshops, news-stands, and libraries. A copy eventually reached William Minor at Broadmoor, linking Murray’s work at Mill Hill School where Murray taught to one of the project’s most significant contributors. The evidence establishes this specific institutional role; it does not describe the school’s wider organization or later development.