author
E. R. (Elsie Riach) Murray
1861–1932
A Scottish educator and writer who helped bring Friedrich Froebel’s ideas to a wider audience, she wrote warmly and clearly about early childhood learning. Her best-known work, co-written with Henrietta Brown Smith, focuses on the importance of play, development, and thoughtful teaching in the early years.
2 Audiobooks
The child under eight
by E. R. (Elsie Riach) Murray, Henrietta Brown Smith
Froebel as a pioneer in modern psychology
by E. R. (Elsie Riach) Murray
About the author
Born in Edinburgh in 1861, she became an important figure in teacher training and early childhood education. Brunel University’s overview of the Murray Book Collection says that she entered Maria Grey College in 1893 at age 33 and quickly immersed herself in the work of Friedrich Froebel, whose ideas about child development would shape her career and writing.
She went on to work as a lecturer and became the first vice-principal of Maria Grey Training College. Her books include Froebel as a Pioneer in Modern Psychology and, with Henrietta Brown Smith, The Child Under Eight (1919), a practical and thoughtful study of children’s growth, play, and education.
Remembered today both as an educator and an author, she wrote in a way that connected educational theory with everyday teaching. Her work sits at the meeting point of psychology, kindergarten thinking, and teacher training in the early 20th century.