Sir John Murray (3 March 1841 – 16 March 1914) was a pioneering Canadian-born British oceanographer, marine biologist and

limnologist Limnology ( ; ) is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. It includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristics of fresh and saline, natural and man-made bodies of water. This includes the study of lakes, ...

. He is considered to be the father of modern oceanography.

Early life and education

Murray was born on 3 March 1841, at Cobourg,

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

(now

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

). He was the second son of Robert Murray, an accountant, and Elizabeth Macfarlane. His parents had

emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

d from Scotland to Ontario in about 1834. He went to school in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

and later to Cobourg College. In 1858, at the age of 17 he moved to Stirling to live with his grandfather, John Macfarlane, and continue his education at

Stirling High School Stirling High School is a state high school for 11- to 18-year-olds run by Stirling Council in Stirling, Scotland. It is one of seven high school#Scotland, high schools in the Stirling district, and has approximately 972 pupils. It is located ...

. In 1864, he enrolled at

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

to study medicine however he did not complete his studies and did not graduate. In 1868, he joined the whaling ship, ''Jan Mayen'', as ship's surgeon and visited

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

and Jan Mayen Island. During the seven-month trip, he collected marine specimens and recorded ocean currents, ice movements and the weather. On his return to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

he re-entered the University to complete his studies (1868–72) in geology under Sir Archibald Geikie.

Challenger Expedition

In 1872, Murray assisted in preparing scientific apparatus for the

Challenger Expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific programme that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by W ...

under the direction of the expedition's chief scientist,

Charles Wyville Thomson Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the ''Challenger'' expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his ...

. When a position on the expedition became available Murray joined the crew as a naturalist. During the four-year voyage, he assisted in the research of the oceans including collecting marine samples, making and noting observations, and making improvements to marine instrumentation. After the expedition, Murray was appointed Chief Assistant at the Challenger offices in Edinburgh where he managed and organised the collection. After Thomson's death in 1882, Murray became Director of the office and in 1896 published ''The Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of HMS Challenger'', a work of more than 50 volumes of reports. Murray renamed his house, on Boswall Road in northern Edinburgh, ''Challenger Lodge'' in recognition of the expedition. The building now houses St Columba's Hospice.

Marine Laboratory, Granton

In 1884, Murray set up the Marine Laboratory at Granton, Edinburgh, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. In 1894, this laboratory was moved to Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, on the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

, and became the University Marine Biological Station, Millport, the forerunner of today's

Scottish Association for Marine Science The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is the UK's oldest ocean research and education charity (established 1884) based near Oban, Argyll, on thEuropean Marine Science Park It is a founding partner of the University of the Highlan ...

at Dunstaffnage, near

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

Bathymetrical survey of the fresh-water lochs of Scotland

After completing the Challenger Expedition reports, Murray began work surveying the freshwater lochs of Scotland. He was assisted by Frederick Pullar and over a period of three years, they surveyed 15 lochs together. In 1901, Pullar drowned as a result of an ice-skating accident which caused Murray to consider abandoning the survey work. However, Pullar's father, Laurence Pullar, persuaded him to continue and gave £10,000 towards the completion of the survey. Murray coordinated a team of nearly 50 people who took more than 60,000 individual depth soundings and recorded other physical characteristics of the 562 lochs. The resulting 6 volume ''Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland'' was published in 1910. The cartographer John George Bartholomew, who strove to advance geographical and scientific understanding through his cartographic work, drafted and published all the maps of the Survey.

North Atlantic oceanographic expedition

In 1909, Murray indicated to the

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES; , ''CIEM'') is a regional fishery advisory body and the world's oldest intergovernmental science organization. ICES is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, where its multinational s ...

that an oceanographic survey of the North Atlantic should be undertaken. After Murray agreed to pay all expenses, the Norwegian Government lent him the research ship ''Michael Sars'' and its scientific crew. He was joined on board by the Norwegian marine biologist Johan Hjort and the ship departed

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in April 1910 for a four-month expedition to take physical and biological observations at all depths between Europe and North America. Murray and Hjort published their findings in ''The Depths of the Ocean'' in 1912 and it became a classic for marine naturalists and oceanographers. He was the first to note the existence of the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...

and of

oceanic trench Oceanic trenches are prominent, long, narrow topography, topographic depression (geology), depressions of the seabed, ocean floor. They are typically wide and below the level of the surrounding oceanic floor, but can be thousands of kilometers ...

es. He also noted the presence of deposits derived from the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

n desert in deep ocean

sediments Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

and published many papers on his findings.

Awards, recognition and legacy

* Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

(1877) * Neill Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1877) * Makdougall Brisbane Prize from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1884) *

Founder's Medal The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...

from the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(1895) * Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(1896) *

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(1898) *

Cullum Geographical Medal The Cullum Geographical Medal is one of the oldest awards of the American Geographical Society. It was established in the will of George Washington Cullum, the vice president of the Society, and is awarded "to those who distinguish themselves by ...

from the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

(1899) *

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Branwh ...

from the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

(1900) * International Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

(1900) * Livingstone Medal from the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland, founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

(1910) * International Member of the American Philosophical Society (1911) * Vega Medal from the

Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG; ) is a scientific learned society founded in December 1877. It was established after a rearrangement of various sections of the Anthropological Society, which was formed in 1873 by Hjalmar ...

(1912) * International Member of the United States

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(1912) Other awards included the Cuvier Prize and Medal from the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

and the Humboldt Medal of the Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin. He was president of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society from 1898 to 1904. In 1911, Murray founded the Alexander Agassiz Medal which is awarded by the

, in memory of his friend Alexander Agassiz (1835–1910). After his death his estate funded the John Murray Travelling Studentship Fund and the 1933 John Murray ''Mabahiss'' Expedition to the Indian Ocean.

Death

Murray lived at Challenger Lodge (renamed after his expedition) on Boswall Road in Trinity, Edinburgh, with commanding views over the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

. This house is now the St Columba's Hospice, a

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

facility. Murray was killed when his car overturned west of his home on 16 March 1914 at

Kirkliston Kirkliston is a village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council area limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the ...

near

. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

on the central path of the north section in the original cemetery.

Tribute

The ''John Murray Laboratories'' at the University of Edinburgh, the ''John Murray Society'' at the University of Newcastle and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency research vessel, the S.V. ''Sir John Murray'', and the Murray Glacier are named after him.

Taxa named in his honor

Animals named in his honor include the entire Murrayonida order of

sea sponge Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and are o ...

s. *'' Anthoptilum murrayi'' Kölliker, 1880 *'' Bathyraja murrayi'' Günther, 1880 *'' Bythotiara murrayi'' Günther, 1903 *'' Cirrothauma murrayi'' Chun, 1911 *'' Culeolus murrayi'' Herdman, 1881 *'' Deltocyathus murrayi'' Gardiner & Waugh, 1938 *'' Halieutopsis murrayi'' H. C. Ho, 2022 *'' Lanceola murrayi'' Norman, 1900 *'' Lithodes murrayi'' Henderson, 1888 *'' Melanocetus murrayi'', commonly known as Murray's abyssal anglerfish, is a

deep sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

anglerfish The anglerfish are ray-finned fish in the order Lophiiformes (). Both the order's common name, common and scientific name comes from the characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified dorsal Fish fin#Ray-fins, fin ray acts as a Aggressiv ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Melanocetidae, found in tropical to temperate parts of the world's oceans at depths down to over . *'' Mesothuria murrayi'' Théel, 1886 *'' Millepora murrayi'' Quelch, 1886 *'' Munneurycope murrayi'' Walker, 1903 *'' Munnopsurus murrayi'' Walker, 1903 *'' Murrayona'' Kirkpatrick, 1910 *'' Phallonemertes murrayi'' Brinkmann, 1912 *'' Phascolion murrayi'' Stephen, 1941 *†'' Pipistrellus murrayi''

Andrews Andrews may refer to: Places Australia *Andrews, Queensland *Andrews, South Australia United States *Andrews, Florida (disambiguation), various places *Andrews, Indiana *Andrews, Nebraska *Andrews, North Carolina *Andrews, Oregon *Andrews, South ...

, 1900 *'' Potamethus murrayi'' M'Intosh, 1916 *'' Psammastra murrayi'' Sollas, 1886 *'' Pythonaster murrayi'' Sladen, 1889 *'' Silvascincus murrayi'' Boulenger, 1887Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Murray, J.", p. 185). *'' Sophrosyne murrayi'' Stebbing, 1888 *'' Stellitethya murrayi'' Sarà & Bavestrello, 1996 *'' Trachyrhynchus murrayi'' Günther, 1887 *'' Triglops murrayi'' Günther, 1888

Botanical references

References

External links

* * *
On the 1910 Murray and Hjort expedition and the ''Cirrothauma murrayi'' octopus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, John 1841 births 1914 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People from Cobourg Road incident deaths in Scotland People educated at Stirling High School Canadian people of Scottish descent Scottish biologists Scottish explorers Scottish non-fiction writers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Pre-Confederation Ontario people Royal Medal winners Recipients of the Cullum Geographical Medal Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Scottish marine biologists Scottish oceanographers Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Burials at the Dean Cemetery Scottish surgeons British limnologists Scottish naturalists People from Millport, Cumbrae Members of the American Philosophical Society

Early life and education

Challenger Expedition

Marine Laboratory, Granton

Bathymetrical survey of the fresh-water lochs of Scotland

North Atlantic oceanographic expedition

Awards, recognition and legacy

Death

Tribute

Taxa named in his honor

Botanical references

See also

References

External links