Things there did not go quite as planned, and before completing his studies the young Canadian was off to sea again. This time it was to earn some money as “ship’s surgeon” on the whaler Jan Mayen bound for the far North Atlantic. It was during this seven-month trip that John began collecting marine specimens and recording ocean currents, ice movements and the weather. Such details occupied him for the rest of his life! Now with enough money of his own, John returned to his studies, apparently attending classes in nearly all faculties but never taking an exam or ever graduating. This wide-ranging education appears to have stood him in good stead! ‘Victoria College, Cobourg,” Dominion of the North: Literary & Print Culture in Canada, accessed January 25, 2020, https://omeka.vicu.utoronto.ca/dominion/document/120. THE‘EARLY YEARS - EDUCATION AND’FIRST VOYAGES John Murray was second son of an accountant, Robert, and his wife, Elizabeth, who had emigrated from Scotland about 1834. They settled in Cobourg and lived here at least until John was born in 1841. That was the Same year that Cobourg’s Upper Canada Academy received its Royal Charter and was renamed Victoria College. John probably received his early education here and after a brief time studying in London, Ontario, returned to attend Victoria College. Jan Mayen - ©SCRAN Aberdeenshire Council