Reginald Augustus Frederick Murray (18 February 1846 – 5 September 1925) was a

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

-general.

Biography

Murray was born on 18 February 1846, in

Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath, in Surrey, England. It lies approximately south-west of central London. The town is of Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Hi ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the eldest child of Captain Virginius Murray (1817–1861) and his wife Elizabeth Alice (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Poitiers). He went to Australia in 1855 with his mother, three years after his father. Murray was educated at Rev. T. P. Fenner's, (M.A.) private school in

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a populati ...

. Murray left school in 1860, and worked on a cattle run near

Avoca, Victoria Avoca is a town in the Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north west of Ballarat, Victoria, Ballarat. It is one of two main towns in the Pyrenees Shire, the other being Beaufort, Victoria, Beaufort to the south. Ge ...

and later had some success as a

gold prospector Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector. Although traditionally a commercial activity, in some developed countries placer gold prospe ...

. In April 1862, Murray joined the

Geological Survey of Victoria Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

, directed by

Alfred Selwyn Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, Order of St. Michael and St. George, CMG, Legum Doctor, LL.D, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Geological Society of London, FGS (26 July 182419 October 1902) was a British geologist and public servant, director of ...

, as field assistant to Charles Smith Wilkinson. Murray had experience in

Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh ( Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is a town in Victoria, Australia, located approximately north-west of the state capital Melbourne, at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong. As of the ...

, Ballan, the Otway ranges, and many other districts. When the Geological Survey was terminated on economic grounds in 1869, Murray engaged in mining and mining surveying in the

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

district. He joined the government service again in 1871, and made geological surveys of the

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

and Ballarat goldfields. Murray did a lot of pioneering surveying in

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

much of which had not been explored; some of this was done with

Alfred William Howitt Alfred William Howitt (17 April 1830 – 7 March 1908), also known by author abbreviation A. W. Howitt, was an Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist. He was known for leading the Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to est ...

. In 1881, Murray was appointed geological surveyor for the Department of Mines,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, and remained until his resignation in 1897. He afterwards held appointments with various British mining companies and in his later years did a good deal of prospecting work. In 1887 he published a capable volume, ''Victoria: Geology and Physical Geography'', and a large number of his reports and maps will be found listed in ''Bulletin No. 23'' of the geological survey of Victoria, p. 33. He was a hard-working and able geologist, who did excellent exploring and pioneering geological work in Victoria and particularly in relation to mining country. Murray died in

Caulfield, Victoria Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. C ...

, on 5 September 1925, aged 79. He was married twice.

Works

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Reginald 1925 deaths 1846 births Australian public servants Geologists from Melbourne People from the Colony of Victoria