“Unqualified approbation:” Education
Murray’s family strongly encouraged education: of his siblings, Lucy and Ella Mabel both earned BAs at Dalhousie; Lewis Rutherford became a doctor; and Adam Henry Stewart, a lawyer.
Presumably all of them began, as did Walter, at a local primary school. The “continuation school” at Collina which followed was a four-mile walk each way. Walter was then sent to Fredericton, 33 km to the south, and in January 1882 was enrolled at the Collegiate School. “The elite school in New Brunswick,” Collegiate School “moulded …students in preparation for success in university and leadership in society.” Murray’s contemporaries there included Bliss Carmen and Charles GD Roberts. (The Prairie Builder, p. 16).
Portrait of Walter Murray ca. 1881, just prior to his transfer to Collegiate School in Fredericton.
Group photo – Collegiate School, Fredericton, ca. 1882. Walter Murray, then about 16 years old, is seated in the middle row, second from the left.
Walter did exceptionally well, earning the Douglas silver medal, the Governor General’s medal, and a King’s County scholarship which assisted with tuition at the University of New Brunswick.
Some students may take comfort in two documents relating to Walter Murray's undergraduate education at the University of New Brunswick. The first, a notice about "disorderly proceedings," may or may not have been the incident which resulted in Murray's rustication. The second, a letter from the senate of Dalhousie, advises Murray that as "a rusticated student of the University of New Brunswick, be informed that, whilst rustication continues, no certificate of standing that can be produced will be satisfactory to the Senate." That is, Murray's attempt to transfer to Dalhousie was refused, the result of his misdemeanor at UNB.
Whatever this “disorderly proceeding” might have been, it did not long overshadow his continuing academic success. Following graduation, Walter took teacher training for a year, but also wrote the exam for the Gilchrist Scholarship. In 1886 he placed first among the Canadians competing and third overall, enabling Walter to study at the University of Edinburgh.
Invitation to dinner in Murray’s honour, as Gilchrist Scholar
Letters certifying birth and baptism from Lewis Jack (retired minister, Springfield): “I would be doing injustice to my feelings were I to withhold my unqualified approbation both as to his highly exemplary moral character and his perseverance as a student.”
At Edinburgh, Walter took a first class honours MA in Philosophy. Certificates indicating Murray's standing, and awards, in various courses at the University of Edinburgh. He received the first medal in natural philosophy; a prize in mathematics; third prize in moral philosophy; second prize in logic and metaphysics; honourable mention for merit in rhetoric and English literature; and fourth prize in law, and was Senior medalist in political economy and education.
Could the man on the right be WC Murray? Both men are wearing bowler, or derby hats; first created in 1849 and extremely popular into the 1920s. Their style of clothing suggests a date ca. 1890, when WC Murray would have been 24 years old.
Walter Murray with friends, A.W. Duff and T. Walker, in Scotland, ca. 1889. His years at Edinburgh provided Murray with lifelong friends: Robert Falconer, James Falconer, Clarence MacKinnon, and Arthur Morton were all his fellow students; all became prominent in Canadian life; and all supported each other throughout their careers in various ways.
Walter Murray (back row, right) and fellow students, July 1889.
After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Walter took a single semester in Berlin; but returned to Canada to begin his career, first as Chair of Philosophy and Political Economy at the University of New Brunswick beginning in 1891; then Dalhousie (Philosophy; the Theory of Education). During his tenure at Dalhousie he was offered presidency of UNB ca. 1905 but refused it, and was awarded LLD from Queen’s ca. 1904 – clearly having become a person of some note in academic circles.
