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Sir James Augustus Henry Murray, FBA (; 7 February 1837 – 26 July 1915) was a Scottish
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...
and
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...
. He was the primary editor of the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'' (''OED'') from 1879 until his death.


Life and learning

James Murray was born in the village of
Denholm Denholm is a small village located between Jedburgh and Hawick in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, UK. The estimated population of Denholm is 600. There is a village green in the centre. It lies in the valley of the River Teviot. Denhol ...
near
Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one ...
in the
Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...
, the eldest son of a draper, Thomas Murray. His brothers included
Charles Oliver Murray Charles Oliver Murray (1842 – 11 December 1923) was a Scottish artist and printmaker. Born in the village of Denholm in Roxburghshire in 1842, Murray trained at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh and moved to London by 1872. He was elect ...
and A. D. Murray, later editor of the ''Newcastle Daily Journal''. He was christened plain "James Murray", but in 1855 he assumed the extra names "Augustus Henry" in order to distinguish himself from other James Murrays in the Hawick area. A precocious child with a voracious appetite for learning, he left school at fourteen because his parents were not able to afford to pay the fees to continue his education. At seventeen he became a teacher at Hawick Grammar School (now
Hawick High School Hawick High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders. As well as serving the town, it also takes in pupils from as far away as Newcastleton. History The first mention of educational provision in the ...
) and three years later he was headmaster of the Subscription Academy there. In 1856, he was one of the founders of the Hawick Archaeological Society. In 1861, Murray met a music teacher, Maggie Scott, whom he married the following year. Two years later, they had a daughter Anna, who soon died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
, then known as consumption. Maggie, too, fell ill with the same disease, and on the advice of doctors, the couple moved to London to escape the Scottish winters. Once there, Murray took an administrative job with the Chartered Bank of India while continuing in his spare time to pursue his many and varied academic interests. Maggie died within a year of arrival in London. A year later Murray was engaged to Ada Agnes Ruthven and the following year he married her. Their best man was his friend
Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and T ...
, who had earlier received instruction from Murray in elementary electricity, and often referred to him as "the grandfather of the telephone". By this time Murray was primarily interested in languages and
etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...
, the origin of words. Some idea of the depth and range of his linguistic erudition may be gained from a letter of application he wrote to Thomas Watts, Keeper of Printed Books at the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, in which he claimed an 'intimate acquaintance' with
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
,
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, and 'to a lesser degree' Portuguese, Vaudois, Provençal & various dialects'. In addition, he was 'tolerably familiar' with
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and Danish. His studies of
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
and Mœso-
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
had been 'much closer', he knew 'a little of the
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...
' and was at the time 'engaged with the Slavonic, having obtained a useful knowledge of the Russian'. He had 'sufficient knowledge of
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
to read and cite the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
and
Peshito The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the ...
' and to a lesser degree he knew
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
,
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, Coptic and Phoenician. However, he did not get the job. By 1869, Murray was on the council of the
Philological Society The Philological Society, or London Philological Society, is the oldest learned society in Great Britain dedicated to the study of language as well as a registered charity. The current Society was established in 1842 to "investigate and promot ...
, and by 1873 had given up his job at the bank and returned to teaching at
Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformis ...
. He then published ''The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland'', which served to enhance his reputation in philological circles. In 1881, he was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. Murray had eleven children with Ada (all having "Ruthven" in their name, by arrangement with his father-in-law, George Ruthven); the eldest, Harold James Ruthven Murray became a prominent
chess historian This is a list of chess historians. Chess historians *Yuri Averbakh * Henry Bird *Ricardo Calvo (October 22, 1943 – September 26, 2002) *Hiram Cox * G. H. Diggle *David Vincent Hooper *Willard Fiske *Professor Duncan Forbes * Jeremy Gaige *An ...
, Sir
Oswyn Murray Oswyn Murray (born 26 March 1937) is a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford University and a distinguished classical scholar. Murray is joint editor with John Boardman and Jasper Griffin of the ''Oxford History of the Classical World''. Boris J ...
was permanent secretary at the
Admiralty (United Kingdom) The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
from 1917 to 1936, and Wilfrid George Ruthven Murray wrote an account of his father. All the eleven children survived to maturity (which was unusual at that time) and helped him in the compilation of the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'' (OED). He died of
pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...
on 26 July 1915 and requested to be buried in Oxford beside the grave of his best friend,
James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the Londo ...
.


Murray and the ''OED''

On 26 April 1878, Murray was invited to
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
to meet the Delegates of the
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
, with a view to his taking on the job of editor of a new
dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologie ...
of the
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
, to replace '' Johnson's'' and to capture all the words then extant in the English speaking world in all their various shades of meaning. On 1 March 1879, a formal agreement was put in place to the effect that Murray was to edit a new English Dictionary, which would eventually become the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'' (OED). It was expected to take ten years to complete and be some 7,000 pages long, in four volumes. In fact, when the final results were published in 1928, it ran to twelve volumes, with 414,825 words defined and 1,827,306 citations employed to illustrate their meanings.Drabble, Margaret, Editor (1985) ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'', 5th Edition, Oxford University Press, p728. Entry for ''Oxford English Dictionary, The''. In preparation for the work ahead, Murray built a corrugated-iron shed in the grounds of
Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformis ...
, called the
Scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...
, to house his small team of assistants as well as the flood of slips (bearing quotations illustrating the use of words to be defined in the dictionary) which started to flow in as a result of his appeal. As work continued on the early part of the dictionary, Murray gave up his job as a teacher and became a full-time lexicographer. In the summer of 1884, Murray and his family moved to a large house on the
Banbury Road Banbury Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards Banbury through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the ...
in north Oxford. Murray had a second Scriptorium built in its back garden, a larger building than the first, with more storage space for the ever-increasing number of slips being sent to Murray and his team. Anything addressed to "Mr Murray, Oxford" would always find its way to him, and such was the volume of post sent by Murray and his team that the
Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...
erected a special
post box A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English) is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail inten ...
outside Murray's house. Murray became president of the Oxford Philatelic Society, making use of the substantial collection of
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
s he received from his many readers around the world. Murray continued his work on the dictionary, age and failing health doing nothing to diminish his enthusiasm for the work to which he had devoted much of his life. Despite his devotion to the dictionary, which was recognised by his
knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
in 1908, Murray remained a relative outsider in Oxford, never fully taking part in university academic and Senior Common Room life. He was never made a Fellow of an Oxford college, and received an Oxford
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
only the year before his death. William Chester Minor was a major contributor to the OED. He became one of the project's most effective volunteers, and came to the attention of Murray, who visited him in January 1891. In 1899, Murray paid compliment to Minor's enormous contributions to the dictionary, stating, "we could easily illustrate the last four centuries from his quotations alone".


In literature and film

The book ''
The Surgeon of Crowthorne ''The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words'' is a non-fiction history book by British writer Simon Winchester, first published in England in 1998. It was retitled ''The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murd ...
'' (published in America as ''The Professor and the Madman''), by
Simon Winchester Simon Winchester (born 28 September 1944) is a British-American author and journalist. In his career at ''The Guardian'' newspaper, Winchester covered numerous significant events, including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal. Winchester has ...
, was published in 1998 and chronicles both Minor's later life and his contributions to the creation of the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
''. The movie rights for the book were bought by
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...
's Icon Productions in 1998. Farhad Safinia directed the film adaptation, called '' The Professor and the Madman'', starring Gibson as Murray and
Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
as Minor. The film was released in May 2019. In 2003, Winchester published a broader history, "The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary," including the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary through to its completion nearly seventy years later. ''
The Dictionary of Lost Words ''The Dictionary of Lost Words'' is the debut novel by Australian writer Pip Williams. It was sixth on the list of Australian fiction bestsellers for 2020 and as of 18 January 2021 it had sold more than 100,000 copies. Plot summary Esme's m ...
'' (2020) is a best-selling novel by Australian author Pip Williams, much of which is set in the scriptorium where Murray and his team worked on the OED.


Honorary degrees

He was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by nine universities, including: *
LL.D Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
from the
University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...
in June 1901. * D.Litt. from the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
in 1914.


References


Further reading

* (his granddaughter).
Ogilvie, Sarah (2012), ''Words of the World: a global history of the Oxford English Dictionary,'' Cambridge University Press
. (later editor on dictionary) * . * Murray is also the "professor" referred to in (US: ''The Professor and the Madman''), even though he was never actually granted a professorship by Oxford. Dr. William Chester Minor, a volunteer who worked on the dictionary, was the "madman".


External links


''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' website entry for James Murray



Broadmoor's Word-Finder (on Minor and Murray)







Murray Scriptorium
Letters and papers of James Murray * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James 1837 births 1915 deaths Burials in Oxfordshire Knights Bachelor People from the Scottish Borders Scottish lexicographers Scottish philologists Scottish schoolteachers Chief editors of the Oxford English Dictionary Fellows of the British Academy