(c. 1866-4 Sept. 1905), scholar. (R. G. Murison, Ross G. Murison) Born at Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He “came to Canada at the age of sixteen [about 1882]. He worked for a time on a farm in Glengarry, Ont., attended the High School there for a few months, taught school for three years, and matriculated in the University [of Toronto] in 1889. There he took, as his special courses, Philosophy and Oriental languages.” When he died the Glengarry News reported that he “taught school in Lochiel some years ago.” Murison received the degrees of B.A. (1893), M.A. (1894) and Ph.D. (1902) from the University of Toronto, and the degree of B.D. from Knox College (1896). From 1896, he was a lecturer in Oriental languages at University College, University of Toronto. In the university, he also established a reputation for his teaching of the Bible. He wrote Babylonia and Assyria: a Sketch of Their History (Edinburgh, 1901) and History of Egypt (Edinburgh, 1903). It was stated at the time of his death that these “short histories” were “in extensive use everywhere, and are regarded as the best brief manuals of their class that have as yet appeared.” They are in the series “Bible Class Primers” and have 115 pp. each. Murison died at his residence in Toronto, “after an illness of about two weeks, induced by a virulent attack of typhoid fever.” (two children) Only 39 years old at the time of his death, he was a scholar in fields in which people do their most distinguished work at an age greater than that, and it may be supposed that had he lived, he would have made a greater mark on the world. He was married to Margaret Ferguson (see Mrs Ross George Murison). We may guess that they met in GC, when Murison was living there and his future wife’s father was a minister at Kirk Hill. Murison appears not to have been a clergyman, but he was an elder at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, King Street, Toronto.

Glengarry News 8 Sept. 1905 (from Toronto Globe) * J.F. McCurdy, “The Death of Dr. Murison” (with portrait), The Varsity (ND, but soon after death) (QF) * his life in MDict