Marine Biological Hall Of Distinction: Sir John Murray
This article is a part of our collection known as the Marine Hall Of Distinction. It is a different series from our main monthly series & has no connection to the main monthly series. In this special collection, we will discuss marine biologists who we feel have served marine biology & oceanography the most. We do this in order to commemorate these marine biologists & to show gratitude for everything they have contributed to our oceans. This collection has no relation to the main monthly series. This series is published on the 25th of every month, shortly after our article on the oceanic environment of a certain region on the 20th.
Today’s marine biologist is the highly respected & esteemed, John Murray. John Murray was a Scottish-Canadian Marine Biologist, Oceanographer, & Limnologist who is widely considered to be the Father of Modern Oceanography.
Sir John Murray is widely acclaimed his involvement in the Challenger Expedition of 1872, in which he & several naval officers, scientists, & photographers surveyed approximately 79,280 miles of ocean, laying the foundation for modern oceanography & discovering the Challenger Deep along the way. The expedition lasted 4 years, & in the final reports, it was revealed that 4,000 previously unknown species were cataloged.
In addition to his work on the Challenger Expedition, he is well known for his work on surveying freshwater Lochs in Scotland. Over the course of a few years & with the assistance of 50 people, he & his crew took 60,000 depth soundings to make complete maps of various different major lochs.
In this article, we shall be discussing John Murray’s Formative Years & Education, John Murray’s Career & Later Life, & finally John Murray’s Achievements, Accomplishments, Awards, & Honorables. With that being said, let us delve into this esteemed & respected Scottish-Canadian Marine Biologist.
His Formative Years & Education
Sir John Murray was born on March 3rd, 1841, in what is modernly Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. He was born to Robert Murray, & Elizabeth Macfarlane. He spent his childhood in Canada, before moving to Stirlingshire, Scotland, to live with his Grandfather to study Medicine. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Robert L. Stevenson, the author of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”. During his time as a medical student, he attempted to conduct multiple medical studies, which were seemingly unsuccessful. As a naturally exploratory & inquisitive man, he had issues dealing with the how scheduled & regimented everything was. For this reason, he never graduated from medical school, however that would not hold him back in anyway. Upon leaving university, he earned a position as a ships surgeon.
His Career & Later Life
Annoyed with his studies at University, Murray became the Ships Surgeon for vessel Jan Mayen for a short time in 1868. During the 7 month voyage he worked on the Jan Mayen, he collected various marine animals, monitored environmental conditions, & tracked things such as tides & currents. Upon returning home he returned to the University of Edinburgh, where he finished a degree in geology. Earning necessary skills as a naturalist from his position aboard the Jan Mayen, he was invited to be the Third Naturalist for the Challenger expedition. During the planning stages of the voyage he worked closely with Charles Wyville Thompson. The expedition began in 1872, & ended after four years in 1876. Upon returning to Scotland, he was put in charge of editing & processing all the data collected from the expedition. It took him approximately 15 years of continuous editing, & in the end he was able to publish “The Scientific Results of The Voyage of HMS Challenger” in 50 different volumes. Approximately 4,717 never-before-seen species were discovered on this voyage. In honour of the expedition, he named his home the “Challenger Lodge”, which is modernly a Palliative Care Center operated by Hospice.
In the year 1884, John Murray established the Marine Laboratory in Granton Edinburgh, which was one of the first marine biological laboratories on the British Isles. Many collaborative projects would take place here, often with international scientists from America or the rest of Europe. During this time, he would also explore the sea lochs of Scotland in a specially constructed boat, named the Medusa.
In 1896, he was elected to the Fishery Board for Scotland, where he would serve until 1898.
Murray married his wife Isabel Henderson on January 24th, 1889, & had a son with her on the 12th June, 1894. He named his son John Challenger Murray, after the Challenger Expedition.
A project to survey all Freshwater Lochs in Scotland had been ongoing since 1897, however it was dramatically accelerated in 1901 when the man he was working on the project with, Frederick Pullar, was tragically killed in an Ice Skating Accident. Pullar was ice skating on a large lake with many people, & when the ice cracked, chaos erupted. He spotted a young woman who was drowning, & did his best to save her, however unfortunately both he & the young woman drowned. Greatly distraught by this incident, he prepared to abandon the project all together. However, Pullar’s father, Laurance Pullar, offered to pay Murray £10,000 pounds to finish the surveys. Murray accepted, & with the help of 50 people over the course of 4 years, surveyed almost every freshwater loch in Scotland. He & his team conducted more then 60,000 soundings of the lochs, & published their final results in the report “Bathymetrical surveys of the freshwater lochs of Scotland”.
In the year 1910, he convinced the Norwegian Government to allow him to borrow the research vessel Micheal Sars for another oceanographic expedition, on the condition that he paid for all the expenses to furnish the ship. He would use the Micheal Sars to explore the deep ocean & the ocean floor in the North Atlantic with fellow scientist Johan Hjort, & would publish the findings from these missions in the book “The Depths Of The Ocean”. In this book, he revealed that the ocean floor is not void of life as thought previously, & is instead teeming with all sorts of marine creatures. Additionally, he revealed the existence of several new deep sea octopi, one of which he named after himself. This deep sea octopus is modernly named Cirrothauma murrayi, commonly known as the Blind Cirrate Octopus.
John Murray unfortunately passed away in a vehicle crash when his car overturned in Edinburgh, near his home. His death date is March 16th, 1914. He was buried in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, with his headstone reading “Sir John Murray, KCB, Oceanographer. Born 3rd, March 1841, Died 16th, March 1914. He is buried alongside his wife, Isabel Henderson.
Sir John Murray dedicated his life to the study of Marine Biology, Oceanography, & Limnology. His work is still very relevant to this day, & his contributions will not be forgotten or disregarded.
His Achievements, Accomplishments, Awards, & Honorables Of Sir John Murray
Sir John Murray has at the time of publishing, 26 Taxa named in his honour.
In his life time, he was the President both the Scottish Natural History Society, & the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
He received at least 13 different medals in his life, for things varying from his work in Oceanography to his work in Geology.
He founded the Alexander Agassiz Medal, in honour of his close friend Alexander Agassiz.
He helped to lead the Challenger Expedition, one of the most influential scientific expeditions in all of modern history.
Directories / Credits
Citation No. 1: “Sir John Murray (1841 - 1914)”, Written by Unknown & Published at an Unknown Date. Published by the National Records of Scotland. Retrieval Date: August 5th, 2024.
Citation No. 2: “John Murray, the Sir of the ocean deep & the Dr. Jekyll of Oceanography”, Written by Unknown & Published on March 1st, 2021. Published by the European Marine Biological Resource Center. Retrieval Date: August 5th, 2024.
Citation No. 3: “Scientist Of The Day: John Murray”, Written by Doctor William B. Ashworth Junior, & Published on March 3rd, 2015. Published by the Linda Hall Library. Retrieval Date: August 5th, 2024.
Citation No. 4: “Bathymetrical Survey of Freshwater Lochs of Scotland, 1897 - 1909” Written by Unknown, & Published at an Unknown Date. Published by the National Library of Scotland. Retrieval Date: August 5th, 2024.
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