Todays article, is a special. It is apart of our collection known as the “Marine Hall Of Fame”. 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 months series. This series publishes 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 known as Sir John Murray. He was a Scottish-Canadian oceanographer & limnologist. Murray was well known for his work in oceanography, specifically in relation to deep oceanic basins. He is modernly regarded as the father of oceanography. In this article, we will discuss the early life of Sir John Murray, the later life & career of John Murray, & finally his honorables, achievements, & accomplishments. With that being said, let us delve into the life of John Murray.
The Early Life Of Sir John Murray
Murray was born on the 3rd of March, 1841. He was born to his father, Robert Murray who was an accountant, & to his mother, Elizabeth Macfarlane. He was born in the area that is now modern day Ontario. His parents had immigrated shortly before his birth, just 7 years prior, from Scotland. He was schooled for his primary education in London, Ontario. In the year 1858, he decided that he wanted to immigrate back to Scotland in order to live with his maternal grandfather, John Macfarlane. He continued his secondary education in Scotland, as he is documented to have enrolled in Stirling High School. The school is located on Torbrex Farm Road in Stirling, Scotland. After completing his studies at Stirling, he enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. Unfortunately, he did not complete his studies & did not graduate.
The Later Life & Career Of John Murray
In the year 1868, Murray joined the crew of a whaling ship named Jan Mayen as the ship’s surgeon. On an expedition, he visited the island of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, & the island of Jan Mayen. Both of which are owned by Norway. He visited these islands on a 7 month long trip. During the expedition, he collected different marine specimens & logged different oceanic currents & conditions. He also tracked ice movements on this trip. Upon returning to Edinburgh, he re-enrolled in the University Of Edinburgh studying geology under Sir Archibald Geikie. After this, he organized much of the challenger expedition, which was led by Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, who we have covered in a previous Marine Hall Of Fame article. The challenger expedition was revolutionary to the field of oceanography in that it made major contributions to charting & biological investigation. Due to his role in the expedition, he was placed in charge of all biological specimens that were collected on the expedition. After the death of the leading biologist, Thomson, Murray completed his publication of a 50 volume report Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger. He married his wife, Isabel Henderson in the year 1889, whom he had 3 daughters & 2 sons with. This was his only wife. After this he directed biological investigations in various lochs around Scotland, as well as Scottish coast. He also took part in an oceanographic expedition throughout the north Atlantic in 1910. His writings include but are not limited to, “On the Structure & Origin of Coral Reefs and Islands” & “The Depths of the Ocean”. Unfortunately, Murray was killed when his car overturned going at 10 miles per hour west of his home on the 16th of march 1914.
His Honorables Accomplishments, & Achievements
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1877) [2]
Neill Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1877)
Makdougall Brisbane Prize from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1884)
Founder's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society (1895)
Fellow of the Royal Society (1896) [11]
Cullum Geographical Medal from the American Geographical Society (1899) [12]
Clarke Medal from the Royal Society of New South Wales (1900)
Livingstone Medal from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (1910)[13]
Vega Medal from the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (1912)
He was honoured with having an order of sea sponges “Murrayonida” named after him. He was also honoured with having a species of lizard named after him “Silvascincus murray”. He had a total of 24 other species named after him.
Directories / Credits
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2022, March 12). Sir John Murray. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Murray
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