Page:Dictionary of Indian Biography.djvu/324

 MUNSTER, GEORGE AUGUSTUS FREDERICK FITZCLARENCE, FIRST EARL OF (1794–1842)

Eldest son of the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV, by Mrs. Jordan : bom in 1794 : educated at Sunbury and Marlow : entered the Army in 1807 : was in the Peninsula, 1808–14 : went to India in 1815 in the 24th Light Dra- goons : was A.D.C. to Lord Hastings when Governor-General, in the Mahratta war of 1816–7 : was sent home overland, from Bombay, up the Red Sea, and through Egypt, with the duplicate despatches, announcing peace : was at the defeat of the Pindaris at Jabalpur : left Bombay on Feb. 7, and reached England via Egypt on June 16, 1818 : wrote a narrative of his journey, 1819 : made a Peer in 1830 : Lieutenant of the Tower and Maj-General, 1841 : he steadily supported Oriental studies : was, in 1841, President of the Royal Asiatic Society, and of the Society for the Publication of Oriental texts, and Vice-President of the Oriental Translation Fund : and con-templated a History of the Art of War among Eastern Nations, for which he collected a large mass of materials : he died March 20, 1842.

MURDOCH, JOHN (1819–1904)

Educationist and philanthropist : born in 1819 : educated at the High School, Glasgow, and on the Continent : went to Ceylon in 1844 as Principal of the Government Normal School, Kandy, resigning it in 1849 : established the Singhalese Tract Society and became a "Literary Evangelist." After visiting Scotland in 1852 to obtain funds, he went to Madras as an agent of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland : joined the Christian Vernacular Education Society, now the Christian Literature Society of India, on its formation in 1858, and for 46 years toiled for the good of the natives, travelling annually from Ceylon to Peshawar, reporting on their literary and educational needs, organizing supplies of vernacular and English literature for them, himself writing largely on moral and religious subjects. The Government frequently consulted him regarding vernacular literature. He was LL.D. of Glasgow, 1878 : a Fellow of the Madras University : in 1896 he received the silver, and in 1904 the gold, Kaisar-i-Hind medal. He also visited China, helping to found the Christian Literature Society there. He died at Madras, Aug. 10, 1904, universally esteemed.

MURPHY, ROBERT XAVIER (1803–1857)

Sir G. Birdwood, in a letter to the Times, states, of Murphy, that he went out to Bombay as a master under the Bombay Native Education Society: a classical scholar and quick at acquiring Oriental languages : edited the Bombay Gazette, 1834 : acted, 1839, as Secretary to the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, and as Editor of the Bombay Times before Dr. G. Buist (q.v.) : Oriental Translator to Government, 1852 : wrote largely on Oriental subjects, philological, literary, antiquarian, sociological, ethnographical, and the folk-lore of Bombay; had a map of Bombay, town and island, prepared : wrote in the Journal of the Geographical Society, Bombay, and in the Dublin University Magazine : was the first to invent and apply the expression "Towers of Silence" to the places where the Parsis expose their dead : his health failed, and he was sent home, 1855 : died at Kingstown, Dublin, Feb. 26, 1857.

MURPHY, WILLIAM REED (1849–)

Born Oct. 23, 1849 : educated at Kildare and Trinity College, Dublin : entered the Indian Medical Service, 1872 : was with the Indian contingent at Malta, and Cyprus, 1878 : in the Afghan war, 1878–80 : Hazara campaign, 1888 : Lushai expedition, 1888–9 : Chin-Lushai Field Force, 1889–90, as P.M.O. : D.S.O. : Chitral relief force, 1895 : Kuram-Kohat Force, 1897, as P.M.O. : Tirah Field Force, 1897–8 : Lt-Colonel.

MURRAY, SIR JOHN IRVINE ( ? –1902)

General : entered the Army, 1842 : in the Panjab campaign, 1848–9 : in the mutiny raised "Murray's Jat Horse," known as the 14th Bengal Lancers : served with it in numerous actions : kept the Alighar and Etah districts quiet : held the Rohilkund rebels in check : in the second Oudh campaign, and the operations on the Nipal frontier : in the Bhutan campaign, 1864–6 : C.B. : 