Mungo Murray 1599-1670

Mungo MURRAY 1599-1670

Biographical Note

Murray was born at Ochtertyre, Perthshire, on 12 October 1599, the fourth son of William Murray of Ochtertyre and his wife Bethia. He studied at St Andrews University between 1614 and 1617, when he graduated MA. He taught there as a regent between 1626 and the early 1630s. He gained an MA from Oxford University in 1635 and became a Church of England cleric, but was also Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, between 1637 and 1641. He was rector of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk from 1638 until his death.

Books

Murray bequeathed his library of some 1800 volumes to St Leonard’s College, St Andrews University. A list (two copies) of items, grouped by language, was drawn up shortly after the bequest. The collection was mainly theological but includes material on other subjects. Today, all identified Murray copies are kept together in St Andrews University Library and have the shelf prefix ‘Mur’.

Sources

• St Andrews University Library MS UYLY 106/1: Catalogue of the Murray Bequest [see https://collections.st-andrews.ac.uk/item/st-leonards-college-murray-and-wedderburn-gifts/2077479 for a digital version (fols 1-42)]
• Ward, John, The Lives of the Professors of Gresham College (London: printed by John Moore … for the author, 1740), pp. 88-90. ESTC T145612.
• Information from Murray Simpson.