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John Wallace Murdoch (1798–1884)

In an obituary notice of Mr Murdoch, formerly U.M., the Palmerston Times says he was born in the last year of the last century, his father being Mr James Murdoch, of Auldhouse, near Glasgow, and his mother, Frances Wallace, was a daughter of John Wallace, of Kelley, Ayrshire—a brother of the late General Sir James M. Wallace, K.B., the last surviving male of the well-known Glasgow and West Country family of Wallace, who claimed direct lineal descent from the patriot, Sir William Wallace. At the age of 10 Mr Murdoch was sent to Germany to be educated. About 1830 his elder brother, Peter, accompanied their relative, Sir Thomas Brisbane, to Australia as A.D.C. and private secretary, and a year or so afterwards Mr Murdoch joined his brother in Tasmania, where for many years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1854 he returned to Scotland, and in 1860 he came out to New Zealand in the Bosworth, in which Dr Stuart was a fellow passenger. In 1862 Mr Murdoch was appointed Resident Magistrate for the district of Waikouaiti, and registration and returning officer afterwards for the district of Hampden. Mr Murdoch belongs to a family of longevity, most of them having, as he had done, become octogenarians, while some of them approached very close to the century.

Original publication

Citation details

'Murdoch, John Wallace (1798–1884)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/murdoch-john-wallace-28371/text36015, accessed 29 March 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

5 March, 1798
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Death

10 January, 1884 (aged 85)
Palmerston, New Zealand

Cause of Death

rheumatism

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Occupation