Early Life
John was born on the 17
th of June 1852 in
Edinburgh, the eldest son of
William Murdoch Burn-Murdoch and
Jessie Cecilia Mack.
Career
Educated at the Edinburgh Academy, at Nice for a year, and afterwards in London, Burn-Murdoch entered the Royal Engineers from Woolwich on 2 May 1872. He served in the Afghan war of 1878-80, and was present in the engagement of Charasiab on 6 Oct. 1879 and in the operations round Kabul in December 1879, including the storming of the Asmai Heights, when he was severely wounded while employed in blowing up one of the Afghan forts (Hanna, Second Afghan War, iii. 250). He was mentioned in despatches, 4 May 1880, and received the medal with two clasps.
Burn-Murdoch took part in the Egyptian war of 1882 with the contingent from India under Major-general Sir Herbert Taylor Macpherson. The engineers were commanded by
Sir James Browne known as 'Buster Browne' (1839–1896), and Burn-Murdoch and Sir
William Gustavus Nicholson were the two field engineers. Reaching Bombay with his companions on 6 Aug., Burn-Murdoch aided Browne in preparing all the requisite material, and arrived at Suez, where they repaired the roads, local canals, and railways. From Ismailia they reached Kassassin on 11 Sept., and were present at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir on the 13th. Immediately afterwards Burn-Murdoch, with the Indian force, pushed on for some thirty miles to Zagazig, and took a foremost part in seizing the railway there, and General Browne sent a captured train back under Burn-Murdoch to help in the 72nd regiment, six miles off. The brilliant seizure of Zagazig, in which Burn-Murdoch did useful service, deprived the rebels of command of the railway and facilitated the capture of Cairo. He was mentioned in despatches and received the medal with clasp, fifth class of the Medjidieh, and Khedive's star. Burn-Murdoch was promoted captain on 2 May 1884, major on 6 Aug. 1891, and lieut.-colonel on 1 March 1900. Meanwhile he served in India on the state railways, and in 1893 became officer commanding engineer of state railways and subsequently was chief engineer of the Southern Mahratta railways. He retired on an Indian pension on 28 May 1900.
Family Life
John married Maud Forster (born Maud Edwards, she was the widow of William Forster) in August 1889. They had no children, though Maud had by her former husband three sons and a daughter.
Death
John died at
Bridge of Leith Cottage, Doune, Perthshire, on 30 Jan. 1909, and was buried in
Old Kilmadock burial ground. His memorial
1 reads:
In memory of JOHN BURN-MURDOCH, RE
Eldest son of WILLIAM BURN-MURDOCH MD
Born 17th June 1852
Died 31Jan 1909
In thy licht shall we see licht
His obituary from
The Times, 3
rd February 1909
2:
Lieutenant-Colonel John Burn-Murdoch, who died on January 30, at Bridge of Teith Cottage, Gartincaber, Doune, was the eldest son of Dr. William Burn-Murdoch of Edinburgh, and he belonged to the family of Burn-Murdochs of Gartincaber.
Born on June 17 1852, he gazetted a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in May 1872 and served in the Afghan War of 1878-1880, and was present at the engagement at Charasiah, on October 6, 1879, and in the operations around Cabul [sic] in December of the same year, including the storming of the Armai Heights. He was severely wounded in the shoulder while gallantly employed in blowing up one of the Afghan forts. For his services he was mentioned in despatches, and received the medal with two clasps. His next service was during the Egyptian War of 1882, where he was with the Indian contingent and took part in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. He was specially mentioned in despatches for courage and daring on more than one occasion, received the medal with clasp, the 5th class of the Mejidieh, and the Khedive's bronze star. In May 1884 he was promoted to Captain, in August 1891 to Major, and in March 1909 to Lieutenant-Colonel. After his retirement from active military service, he was concerned in the management of the South Mahratta Railway, and in this connection assisted to make the arrangements for the visit of the Prince of Wales throughout the district. He returned home about nine months ago in consequence of illness. Lieutenant-Colonel Burn-Murdoch had been married, but his wife has died and he leaves no family.
Footnotes
In the family archive L_1882_10_Burn-Murdoch_Various_1 contains a series of letters about (and from) John regarding his actions in the Egyptian War.
[1] See
https://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/gravedetails.php?grave=605440
1852 - 1909 (56 years)
[1] 
