Bio

[Lucy]

Add all known information on William Murdoch here!

[shangas]

William Murdoch, Detective, Toronto Constabulary.

Family: FATHER - Harry Murdoch. SISTER - Susannah Murdoch. HALF-BROTHER - Jasper Linney Murdoch.

Worked in a logging-camp, worked as a constable for five years, became second detective, became detective, achieved dozens of convictions and successful cases. Roman Catholic. Conservative. Studious. Intelligent. Scientific. Refined. Lacks certain social graces and finesse.

[CosmicCavalcade]

-Full name: William Henry Murdoch
-Born in Nova Scotia in 1861 (maybe)
-Raised Roman Catholic
-His father was an alcoholic fisherman
-His mother died accidentally when Murdoch was eight. He and his younger sister, Susannah went to lived with their aunt for a few years. Then he moved to New Brunswick and studied with the Jesuits with the intention of becoming a priest. For some unknown reason he decided against this profession and when he met a lumber jack in Montreal who used to be a constable, decided on that profession instead.
-Within 3 years of being a detective he successfully solved 36 cases but only got convictions for 34.
-His first fiance, Liza Milner, died of consumption in 1894. Became engaged to Julia Ogden in 1901 and they married on May 28th, 1902.
-His sister passed away as well in 1898
-From 1885-1902 lived in a boarding house owned by Mrs. Kitchen, located at 22 Ontario Street. Currently living at the Windsor Hotel with his wife. Murdoch has plans to build them a house.
-Favourite pastimes include reading medical and scientific journals, inventing things and raising his eyebrows a lot.
-Loves Paleontology and hopes to go to the Badlands with his family one day.
-Most of the time he is a teetotaller but occasionally indulges in the drink for special occasions. His favourite alcoholic beverage is Spruce Beer. Mmm mmm.
-HATES the taste of coffee and Mrs. Kitchen's cooking, except inexplicably in 1902.
-Has a thing for blondes, but not dumb ones.
-Avid bicyclist. Has good riding and roping skills due to his time on a ranch as a teenager.
-Refuses to use firearms unless absolutely necessary
-Goes to church every Sunday. Well almost every Sunday. Had a bout with a kidney stone once and missed one.
-Used to be terrible at expressing his emotions but is getting better.
-Might have a touch of aspergers.

[hannikan]

11? Really, is that age from the books? He looked closer to seven or eight in the flashback to me in Let Loose the Dogs. After his mother died, the nuns took him away and brought him to New Brunswick for a Jesuit education. He left home/Jesuit school to work at the logging camp at 17, when his sister was 14. She joined a convent then and William did not see her again until 20 yrs later when they crossed paths during a murder investigation. In addition to an interest in paleontology, he also has interests in ancient Egypt and is a student of warfare. He usually attends confession regularly, but has missed some on occasion. He is skeptical of investing in the stock market. He and Julia both used to be terrible dancers, but after taking lessons with Professor Ontranto, they became much better. He's an avid bicyclist. He also wasn't skilled in baseball until station house #4 became rivals with another station house when he became successful at it. After Julia married Darcy Garland, William briefly spent time in the Klondike, seeking fortune in gold.

[CosmicCavalcade]

According to the timeline on FB that is how old he was. I too always thought he was much younger judging by the boy in the flashback. Also according to FB, he was 22 when he became a logger. He did that for 2 years making him 24 when he joined the police force. We know in S1 that he was with them for 10 years which makes him around 34 at the start of the show. Seems to add up.

[hannikan]

Huh, that's weird since Susannah said he left home at 17 to starting logging. I wonder where the 22 comes from? The books maybe. And then they said it had been 20 years since they last saw each other. So he was 37 in S4, making him 33 in S1.

[CosmicCavalcade]

Or maybe the writers kind of forgot their own timeline by S4?

[hannikan]

Yes, or when different writers came on they didn't know the original one. That happens a lot.

[carolion]

May 20, 2013 22:47:31 GMT hannikan said:

Yes, or when different writers came on they didn't know the original one. That happens a lot.

This is the one thing that really annoys me about MM. It often contradicts itself re story lines. Being a Who fan, cannon is so important. The writers on Who are so careful to get their facts straight. Not so it seems in MM. I know there have been times when somehing is mentioned and then a few seasons later a character will have no recollection of that fact and act like they have never heard of such a thing. I know this sounds confusing. I will have to go searching for examples to illustrate my point.

And to add to the facts. William has a half brother who is a North West Mounty - Jasper. Though I am still not sure if he is older or younger.

[CosmicCavalcade]

I think Jasper must be older because otherwise there would be at least a ten year age difference and Murdoch doesn't seem to be ten years older in S2. I mean, that would make Jasper only about 25 then and I don't think that's the case. So I think Harry sailed around the coast when he was younger and unknowingly created Jasper before he met his wife and settled down and had his family.

As to your other point. Yeah there are some contradictory points. I'm not certain but I believe one of the aunts George mentions in S6 was dead many years before then. Also, the one that always bothers me: Murdoch instantly recognizes that a half silvered mirror is used in S3 during In The Altogether but in The Murdoch Effect, he is so amazed by the two way glass like he had never seen it before and couldn't even remember that people on the other side couldn't see him! I know it was for comedic effect and the webseries doesn't have the same writers as the show but it's still annoying to me.

[carolion]

Jun 4, 2013 12:49:52 GMT CosmicCavalcade said:

I think Jasper must be older because otherwise there would be at least a ten year age difference and Murdoch doesn't seem to be ten years older in S2. I mean, that would make Jasper only about 25 then and I don't think that's the case. So I think Harry sailed around the coast when he was younger and unknowingly created Jasper before he met his wife and settled down and had his family.

As to your other point. Yeah there are some contradictory points. I'm not certain but I believe one of the aunts George mentions in S6 was dead many years before then. Also, the one that always bothers me: Murdoch instantly recognizes that a half silvered mirror is used in S3 during In The Altogether but in The Murdoch Effect, he is so amazed by the two way glass like he had never seen it before and couldn't even remember that people on the other side couldn't see him! I know it was for comedic effect and the webseries doesn't have the same writers as the show but it's still annoying to me.

The half silvered mirror was a glaring one and demonstrates what I am talking about really well. I am sure there are others. I will have to keep a note book with me and do some of my own detecting next time I immerse myself in the box set.

[CosmicCavalcade]

Here's another minor one. In Future Imperfect, George concocted this plan to catch the dog napper which involved having the culprit lead him to the lab. But in The Curse of Beaton Manor, George was all confused about Murdoch using the same strategy to catch the killer. And that would have only been a few weeks later.
I love this show but I will admit that it isn't perfect but nothing really is.

[jj1]

Jun 4, 2013 12:49:52 GMT CosmicCavalcade said:

I think Jasper must be older because otherwise there would be at least a ten year age difference and Murdoch doesn't seem to be ten years older in S2. I mean, that would make Jasper only about 25 then and I don't think that's the case. So I think Harry sailed around the coast when he was younger and unknowingly created Jasper before he met his wife and settled down and had his family.

As to your other point. Yeah there are some contradictory points. I'm not certain but I believe one of the aunts George mentions in S6 was dead many years before then. Also, the one that always bothers me: Murdoch instantly recognizes that a half silvered mirror is used in S3 during In The Altogether but in The Murdoch Effect, he is so amazed by the two way glass like he had never seen it before and couldn't even remember that people on the other side couldn't see him! I know it was for comedic effect and the webseries doesn't have the same writers as the show but it's still annoying to me.

 i also think jasper's older then william when it comes to advice about woman and all that does'nt the older brother give
   advice of which he did he also look a bit older then william by at lease 5yrs
  

[CosmicCavalcade]

Another one: In Let Loose the Dogs, Murdoch has no trouble determining that the boy is an Idiot Savant but in Dead End Street, he didn't really seem to get this until Julia mentioned the term.

[hannikan]

^ Yeah, but Lydia was a much harder case to diagnose because she didn't speak at all. He didn't actually know about the condition before meeting Phillip and, if I remember correctly, he didn't know the term idiot savant in Let Loose the Dogs. He just was sympathetic to Phillip because he is a kind and patient man who himself is quiet because he sometimes experiences social anxiety. In the course of being patient with and observant of Phillip, he became aware of his abilities, not only his deficiencies like most people did. The woman who was kind to Phillip, Jess, certainly didn't know any medical info about his condition. But she became aware of his unusual abilities through just caring for him. Phillip taught William about his condition through his patience and kindness. Then, if I remember correctly, William read up about the condition, too. But just because he knew a little about Phillip's type of condition, doesn't mean he would be aware of such a severe case as Lydia had. It looks quite different. So the fact that he was surprised that Lydia had autism (that term, of course, didn't exist yet) as well, isn't strange. It wouldn't have been an intuitive connection.