John Wilson Murray (25 June 1840 – 12 June 1906) was a Canadian

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

and sailor in the

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Biography

Born in

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, he came to North America as a young boy. He joined the

on 5 June 1857 and became a crew member of the USS ''Michigan''. This ship operated out of

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, and carried out patrols on the

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as well as supervising the prison camp for Confederate officers at

Johnson's Island Johnson's Island is a island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Initially, Johnso ...

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

. As the source for Murray's early life is his own writings, little reliance should be given them for details of his own participation in events aboard the ''Michigan''. It is confirmed that he was an acting gunner on the ship in 1864. In that year, two attempts were made to capture the ship and free the Confederate officers at Johnson's Island. Murray left the navy on 31 January 1866 with an honourable discharge and 1868 became a detective with the Erie police force and, in 1873, joined the

Canada Southern Railway The Canada Southern Railway , also known as CSR, was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway on December 24, 1869. The 1868 ...

as a detective. In 1875, after Murray became

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

's first full-time criminal detective with the title Detective for the Government of Ontario. He held the position until his death and solved hundreds of crimes including the murder of Cornwallis Benwell at the hands of J.W. Birchall of Oxford County, Ontario. Murray was later joined by two additional detectives, and each were named inspector, with Murray as chief inspector, in 1897, marking the beginnings of the

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of what would later become the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...

. Murray died at home on July 12, 1906, from the effects of a stroke he suffered three days earlier.

"Million Dollar Counterfeiting" case

Murray's first case was to investigate the forgery of Canadian

bank notes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

. The forgeries were identified by an expert at the

US Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

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when he noticed the bills were suspiciously beautiful. Murray consulted with former counterfeiters; they were impressed by the forgeries, which they declared could only be the work of master engraver Edwin Johnson, the "king of counterfeiting". In 1880, five years after the first forged bill was found, Johnson was arrested for using a fake bill to buy a necktie. He had printed one million dollars' worth of counterfeit bills using 21 exceptionally engraved copper plates.Detecting the Truth: Fakes, Forgeries and Trickery
, a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada

Legacy

In 1904, Murray published an account of his most memorable cases in the ''Memoirs of a Great Detective''. His exploits inspired the CBC series ''

The Great Detective ''The Great Detective'' is a Canadian television drama, which aired on CBC from 1979 to 1982. It starred Douglas Campbell and James Dugan. Background ''The Great Detective'' was inspired by the exploits of John Wilson Murray, Canada's first ...

'' as well as the creation of Detective William Murdoch by Canadian writer

Maureen Jennings Maureen Jennings (born 1939) is a British Canadian writer, most well known for the ''Detective Murdoch Series'', the basis for the television series '' Murdoch Mysteries''. She is credited as a Creative Consultant and occasionally writer for the ...

and the popular television series '' Murdoch Mysteries'', inspired by her novels.

References

External links

*
Memoirs of a Great DetectiveThe OPP Museum

Bank of Canada Currency Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, John Wilson 1840 births 1906 deaths People from Old Toronto Union Navy sailors Canadian police officers Scottish emigrants to Canada