John Murray (explorer)

John Murray (* 1775 ; † 1807 ) was a British lieutenant captain and Australia explorer.

John Murray was most likely born in Edinburgh and began his seafaring career in 1789. He worked as a senior cadet on the Polyphemus from October 1794 to May 1797. On the Apollo , he worked as a helmsman in 1797 from May to December. Murray was the 2nd captain and pilot on the Blazer from January to July 1798. From October 1798 to July 1800 he was the helmsman of the Porpoise . Later in 1800, John Murray passed the lieutenant captain test . Around November 1800 he arrived in New South Wales by means of the Porpoise . He accompanied James Grant in 1801as helmsman on the Lady Nelson with the assignment to explore Jervis Bay , Westernport Bay and the Hunter River . Upon his return to Sydney , Grant resigned from his command. In September, Governor King appointed Murray lieutenant captain and frigate captain of the Lady Nelson .

On February 14, 1802, with instructions to explore the southern coast of Victoria , he discovered the entrance to Port Phillip Bay . The quarantine area was created at the point where the anchorage was made.

An excerpt from his diary ( in English ):

... Sunday 14 February at Grant's Point bore E by N distant 10 miles and Cape Shanks NW distant 7 miles; kept running down the land. am. At half-past 10 South Head of the new Harbor or Port N by E 8 miles distant; by noon the island at the entrance of harbor bore N half a mile distant. At this time we had a view of this part of the spacious harbor, its entrance is wide enough to work any vessel in, but, in 10 fathoms. Bar stretches itself a good way across, and, with a strong tide out and wind in, the ripple is such as to cause a stranger to suspect rock or shoals ahead. We carried in with us water from 14 to 16 fathoms. Kept standing up the port with all sail set.

Monday, February 15 pm Working up, the port with a very strong ebb against us, we however gained ground. The southern shore of this noble harbor is bold high land in general and not clothed as all the land at Western Port is with thick brush but with stout trees of various kinds and in some places if nothing short, in beauty and appearance, of Greenwich Park . Away to the eastward at the distance of 20 miles the land is mountainous, in particular there is one very high mountain which in the meantime I named Arthur's Seat ... to the NE by N, about 5 miles from the south shore lies a cluster of small rocky islands and all round them a shoal of sand; Plenty of swans and pelicans were found on them when the boat was down, from which I named them Swan Isles. To the NE by E there is an opening, and from our masthead no land could be seen in it. The northern shores are low with a sandy beach all along. At half-past 3 pm we got to anchor in a sandy cove in 7 fathoms water, bottom fine sand - Swan Isles bearing NE by N distance 5 miles, a bold rocky point which I named Point Paterson ESE 1½ miles, a long sandy point named Point Palmer west, 1½ miles, and the nearest point of the shore SW ½ of a mile distant ...

During a month he explored the bay and named strips of land like Arthur's Seat , Swan Island and Point Patterson . On March 8th he took Port Phillip for the British Crown. He first named the area "Port King" in thanks to the Governor King of New South Wales . This in turn renamed Port King to "Port Phillip" in memory of his predecessor Arthur Phillip .

On July 22, 1802, Murray set out from Matthew Flinders to circumnavigate Australia on the Lady Nelson under his command . The Lady Nelson was quite old and needed caulking . On October 17, Murray was hired by Flinders to return to Sydney when they were leaving the Cumberland Islands .

In April 1803, Governor King received a letter from the Navy Board . Murray was banned from command and received no commission for not having the six years of experience he claimed. In addition, he made false statements in England . King dishonorably withdrew command of the Lady Nelson from Murray . Murray returned to England on the Glatton in May 1803 . In 1804, 1805 and 1807 he made maps of coastlines. The exact date of his death is not known. The small ship The Herring was directed under the command of Lieutenant John Murray in November 1814 (WL Clowes, The Royal Navy, Vol. V, p. 555). Note, however, that John Murray was a common name at the time.

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• Vivienne Parsons: John Murray . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1966–2012 (English).
• Serle, Percival (1949). "Murray, John". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.