John Murray (Australian explorer)
Encyclopedia
John Murray was a seaman and explorer of Australia
. He was the first European to discover Port Phillip
, the bay on which the cities of Melbourne
and Geelong are situated.
He is believed to be born in Edinburgh
and began his naval career as an able seaman in 1789. He served as a midshipman
in the Polyphemus
from October 1794 to May 1797; as mate in the Apollo
from May to December 1797, as second master and pilot of the Blazer from January to July 1798 and as mate of the Porpoise from October 1798 to July 1800. Later that year he passed his lieutenant's examination.
In November 1800 he arrived in New South Wales
on the ship Porpoise
. He accompanied James Grant
as mate on the Lady Nelson
on the surveys of Jervis Bay
, Westernport Bay and the Hunter River
in 1801. After his return to Sydney
Grant resigned his command, and in September Governor King
appointed Murray as acting lieutenant and commander of the Lady Nelson.
After a voyage to Norfolk Island
, Murray was instructed to continue the exploration of the southern coastline. He set out from Sydney on 12 November for the Kent Group
; there he successfully navigated and charted the passage between Deal
and Erith Island
s, which would later be named in his honour. In December he undertook a survey of Western Port
. On 4 January 1802, he sighted the entrance to Port Phillip
, but decided the entrance was to dangerous, so continued to survey the east coast of King Island. On 14 February 1802 he returned and entered Port Phillip for the first time and anchored off what became the quarantine ground.
He spent more than a month surveying the bay and naming landmarks; on 8 March he took possession of the bay and named it Port King, which Governor King renamed later to Port Phillip. After his return to Sydney on 23 March, King sent a recommendation to England that he be commissioned as a lieutenant.
On 22 July 1802 Murray set off again in the Lady Nelson as a supply ship accompanying the Investigator, commanded by Matthew Flinders
, in the circumnavigation
of Australia
. Due to old sails and a need for caulking
she proved unfit and on 17 October when they were off the Cumberland Islands, Flinders ordered Murray to return to Sydney.
In April 1803 Governor King received a dispatch informing him that the Navy Board
had refused to give Murray a full commission because he had given false details of previous service in England and had not served the required full six years as had claimed. Reluctantly, King was required to remove Murray from command of the Lady Nelson; though he retained a good opinion of him, as evidenced by his later letters to Joseph Banks
. Murray returned to England in the Glatton
in May 1803.
There is little record of Murray's later life: he appears as the author of several English coastal charts in 1804, 1805 and 1807, which suggests he succeeded in repairing his reputation with the admiralty, on whose behalf the maps were made. His date of death is unknown. There is record of a small vessel, The Herring, being lost in November 1814 under the command of a Lieutenant John Murray, though it is not certain if this refers to the same person, as the name is relatively common.
One source states that Murray later attained the rank of captain, and subsequently lost his life with a ship under his command outside Port Phillip heads, however the origin of this claim is unknown.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He was the first European to discover Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, the bay on which the cities of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Geelong are situated.
He is believed to be born in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and began his naval career as an able seaman in 1789. He served as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
in the Polyphemus
HMS Polyphemus (1782)
HMS Polyphemus, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 April 1782 at Sheerness. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy named for Polyphemus the Cyclops.-Baltic service:...
from October 1794 to May 1797; as mate in the Apollo
HMS Apollo (1794)
HMS Apollo, the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a fifth-rate frigate of 38 guns launched in 1794 and wrecked in 1799....
from May to December 1797, as second master and pilot of the Blazer from January to July 1798 and as mate of the Porpoise from October 1798 to July 1800. Later that year he passed his lieutenant's examination.
In November 1800 he arrived in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
on the ship Porpoise
HMS Porpoise (1799)
HMS Porpoise was a 10-gun sloop originally built in Bilbao, Spain, as the packet ship Infanta Amelia. She was 308 tons, 93ft long on the gun deck and a beam of 27ft, 11 inches. On 6 August 1799 HMS Argo captured her off the coast of Portugal...
. He accompanied James Grant
James Grant (navigator)
James Grant was a British Royal Navy officer and navigator in the early nineteenth century. He made several voyages to Australia and Tasmania, and was the first to map parts of the south coast of Australia.-Early life:...
as mate on the Lady Nelson
Lady Nelson
The Royal Navy purchased Lady Nelson in 1799. She spent her career exploring the coast of Australia in the early years of the 19th century. She was the first known vessel to sail eastward through Bass Strait, the first to sail along the South coast of Victoria, as well as the first to enter Port...
on the surveys of Jervis Bay
Jervis Bay
Jervis Bay is a large bay bounded by the state of New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, and a detached enclave of the Australian Capital Territory. HMAS Creswell is located between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch in the Jervis Bay Territory.-History:...
, Westernport Bay and the Hunter River
Hunter River
The Hunter River is a major river in New South Wales, Australia. The Hunter River rises in the Liverpool Range and flows generally south and then east, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Newcastle, the second largest city in New South Wales and a major port....
in 1801. After his return to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Grant resigned his command, and in September Governor King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
appointed Murray as acting lieutenant and commander of the Lady Nelson.
After a voyage to Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
, Murray was instructed to continue the exploration of the southern coastline. He set out from Sydney on 12 November for the Kent Group
Kent Group
The Kent Group of Islands lies in Bass Strait, Australia, north-west of the Furneaux Group. They form the Kent Group National Park.The islands were named Kent's Group by Matthew Flinders, "in honour of my friend captain William Kent, then commander of the Supply" when Flinders passed them on...
; there he successfully navigated and charted the passage between Deal
Deal Island (Tasmania)
Deal Island is a granite island, with an area of 1576.75 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is the largest of Tasmania’s Kent Group, lying in northern Bass Strait between the Furneaux Group and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. It is now part of the Kent Group National Park, Tasmania’s northernmost...
and Erith Island
Erith Island (Tasmania)
Erith Island is a granite island, with an area of 323 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is the second largest of Tasmania’s Kent Group, lying in northern Bass Strait between the Furneaux Group and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. It is now part of the Kent Group National Park, Tasmania’s...
s, which would later be named in his honour. In December he undertook a survey of Western Port
Western Port
Western Port, is sometimes called "Western Port Bay", is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in Victoria. Geographically, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to...
. On 4 January 1802, he sighted the entrance to Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, but decided the entrance was to dangerous, so continued to survey the east coast of King Island. On 14 February 1802 he returned and entered Port Phillip for the first time and anchored off what became the quarantine ground.
He spent more than a month surveying the bay and naming landmarks; on 8 March he took possession of the bay and named it Port King, which Governor King renamed later to Port Phillip. After his return to Sydney on 23 March, King sent a recommendation to England that he be commissioned as a lieutenant.
On 22 July 1802 Murray set off again in the Lady Nelson as a supply ship accompanying the Investigator, commanded by Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
, in the circumnavigation
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Due to old sails and a need for caulking
Caulking
Caulking is one of several different processes to seal joints or seams in various structures and certain types of piping. The oldest form of caulking is used to make the seams in wooden boats or ships watertight, by driving fibrous materials into the wedge-shaped seams between planks...
she proved unfit and on 17 October when they were off the Cumberland Islands, Flinders ordered Murray to return to Sydney.
In April 1803 Governor King received a dispatch informing him that the Navy Board
Navy Board
The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
had refused to give Murray a full commission because he had given false details of previous service in England and had not served the required full six years as had claimed. Reluctantly, King was required to remove Murray from command of the Lady Nelson; though he retained a good opinion of him, as evidenced by his later letters to Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
. Murray returned to England in the Glatton
HMS Glatton (1795)
HMS Glatton was a 56-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched as the Glatton, an East Indiaman, on 29 November 1792 by Wells & Co. of Blackwell. The Royal Navy bought her in 1795 and converted her into a warship. Glatton was unusual in that for a time she was the only ship-of-the-line...
in May 1803.
There is little record of Murray's later life: he appears as the author of several English coastal charts in 1804, 1805 and 1807, which suggests he succeeded in repairing his reputation with the admiralty, on whose behalf the maps were made. His date of death is unknown. There is record of a small vessel, The Herring, being lost in November 1814 under the command of a Lieutenant John Murray, though it is not certain if this refers to the same person, as the name is relatively common.
One source states that Murray later attained the rank of captain, and subsequently lost his life with a ship under his command outside Port Phillip heads, however the origin of this claim is unknown.
See also
- Lady NelsonLady NelsonThe Royal Navy purchased Lady Nelson in 1799. She spent her career exploring the coast of Australia in the early years of the 19th century. She was the first known vessel to sail eastward through Bass Strait, the first to sail along the South coast of Victoria, as well as the first to enter Port...