Murray (1745-1826) was a New York lawyer and businessman
In
c. 1784 he retired to Holgate, near York, England, because of
ill-health
He
was asked to provide material for use at a local girls' school
As
a result, he produced English Grammar, adapted to the
different classes of learners; With an Appendix, containing
Rules and Observations for Promoting Perspicuity in Speaking and
Writing
Murray's Grammar became the second bestselling work (after Noah
Webster's spelling-book) in the English-speaking world, with 200
editions by 1850
It
sold over 20 million copies and was translated into many
languages
It
was even more popular in the United States than in Britain
At
least until the 1960s, school grammars would all trace their
ancestry back to Murray