Beamish Murdoch

Beamish Murdoch, lawyer, politician, author (b at Halifax 1 Aug 1800; d at Lunenburg, NS 9 Feb 1876). Already a successful lawyer when he was elected to the Nova Scotia Assembly in 1826, Murdoch lost his seat in 1830. A graceful essayist, widely published in leading journals of the time, he also wrote more substantial works, the most important of which is his Epitome of the Laws of Nova Scotia (1832-33), a unique work which earned him fame as "Nova Scotia's Blackstone" and which is still a primary source for historians. Murdoch returned to public life in 1841 when he was appointed clerk of the Board of Education where he laboured tirelessly to establish a uniform provincial school system. Appointed recorder of Halifax in 1852, he retired in 1860, after which he published his History of Nova Scotia (1865-67).