B. J. Murdoch

1889-1973

Benedict Joseph Murdoch, better known as Reverend B.J. Murdoch, was a priest and novelist. During his life, Reverend Murdoch was called the “Shepherd of the Woods,” a title now etched on his tombstone. Rev. B.J. Murdoch was born in Chatham, New Brunswick, on 21 March 1886 and spent his childhood in his hometown of Chatham (now part of the City of Miramichi) where he attended elementary as well as high school. In 1908, he graduated from St. Dunstan’s College in Charlottetown, PEI, and entered the Grand Seminary in Quebec in September of that year. On 29 June 1911, Benedict Murdoch was ordained as priest. After his ordination, Reverend Murdoch served as a priest mainly in New Brunswick, although he did spend some time in Baltimore, Maryland in 1914. It was also this year that his creative work was first published with a short story appearing in Rosary magazine. In 1915, he enlisted as chaplain to the 132nd North Shore Battalion, a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The battalion sailed to England in October of 1916. After the war ended, Reverend Murdoch returned home to New Brunswick where in 1919 he served as a pastor at Jacquet River, in Restigouche County, and Douglastown (now known as Miramichi) where he remained from 1921 until 1930. He published The Red Vineyard (1928). He retired from his pastoral duties and the ministry in 1932. It was then that Father Murdoch secluded himself in a cabin in the woods of Bartibog where he lived for almost thirty years and wrote books, including Part Way Through (1946) and Far Away Place (1952). Reverend Murdoch also wrote novels, such as Souvenir (1928) and The Menders (1953), and collections of short stories, Sprigs (1955) and The Murphy’s Come In (1965). On 29 April 1971 Reverend Murdoch was made a Monsignor by Pope Paul VI, receiving the title of “Honorary Prelate to His Holiness.” Murdoch spent the remaining years of his life at Mount St. Joseph Nursing Home in Chatham. On 31 January 1973, he died at Hotel-Dieu Hospital in Miramichi at the age of 86.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Bartibog, Chatham