Mary Murdoch was married to Harry Murdoch. Together, they had two sons, Albert Murdoch and William, and a daughter, Susannah.
Biography[]
Mary Murdoch died on March 12, 1873 when William was 13 and living in Nova Scotia. Harry Murdoch came home drunk one evening and was angry because William had made a mess of the firewood pile. Mary defended William against Harry. In so doing, she tripped and hit her head against the hearth suffering a concussion. Later, the concussion caused a spell of dizziness and she fell into the water and drowned ("Let Loose the Dogs"). Young William later found her body with butterflies on her, and developed a phobia of butterflies because they were a reminder of his mother's death. ("Murdochophobia")