John Wilson Murray (25 June 1840 – 12 June 1906) was a Canadian

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

and sailor in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Biography

Born in

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 ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, he came to North America as a young boy. He joined the

on 5 June 1857 and became a crew member of the USS ''Michigan''. This ship operated out of

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

, and carried out patrols on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

as well as supervising the prison camp for Confederate officers at

Johnson's Island Johnson's Island is a island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Initially, ...

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. As the source for Murray's early life is his own writings, little reliance should be given them for details of his own participation in events aboard the ''Michigan''. It is confirmed that he was an acting gunner on the ship in 1864. In that year, two attempts were made to capture the ship and free the Confederate officers at Johnson's Island. Murray left the navy on 31 January 1866 with an honourable discharge and 1868 became a detective with the Erie police force and, in 1873, joined the Canada Southern Railway as a detective. In 1875, after Murray became

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 ...

's first full-time criminal detective with the title Detective for the Government of Ontario. He held the position until his death and solved hundreds of crimes including the murder of Cornwallis Benwell at the hands of J.W. Birchall of Oxford County, Ontario. Murray was later joined by two additional detectives, and each were named inspector, with Murray as chief inspector, in 1897, marking the beginnings of the Criminal Investigation Branch of what would later become the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...

. Murray died at home on July 12, 1906, from the effects of a stroke he suffered three days earlier.

"Million Dollar Counterfeiting" case

Murray's first case was to investigate the forgery of Canadian bank notes. The forgeries were identified by an expert at the US Treasury Department in Washington when he noticed the bills were suspiciously beautiful. Murray consulted with former counterfeiters; they were impressed by the forgeries, which they declared could only be the work of master engraver Edwin Johnson, the "king of counterfeiting". In 1880, five years after the first forged bill was found, Johnson was arrested for using a fake bill to buy a necktie. He had printed one million dollars' worth of counterfeit bills using 21 exceptionally engraved copper plates.Detecting the Truth: Fakes, Forgeries and Trickery
, a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada

Legacy

In 1904, Murray published an account of his most memorable cases in the ''Memoirs of a Great Detective''. His exploits inspired the CBC series '' The Great Detective'' as well as the creation of Detective William Murdoch by Canadian writer Maureen Jennings and the popular television series ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...

'', inspired by her novels.

References

External links

*
Memoirs of a Great DetectiveThe OPP Museum

Bank of Canada Currency Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, John Wilson 1840 births 1906 deaths British emigrants Immigrants to the United States Immigrants to Canada People from Old Toronto Union Navy sailors Canadian police officers