The Murdoch family was prominent in Glasgow commercial and civic life from the 17th century. Peter Murdoch of Rosehill (1670-1761) was a sugar merchant and refiner who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow, 1730-32. His great-grandson, Peter Murdoch (1795-1871) served at the Battle of Waterloo in the 35th Regiment of Foot. He emigrated to Australia in 1821 to become Land Commissioner in Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania]. After a period in farming and stock-raising, Murdoch returned to Scotland and setteled in Renfrewshire. Peter Murdoch's son was George Brown Murdoch (1836-1906). He was born in Tasmania, and educated at Glasgow University. As an apprentice to Alexander Doull, surveyor and civil engineer of Greenwich, Murdoch carried out survey work in Russia. In 1858 he went to India as a contractor's engineer on the construction of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. In 1871 he went to Australia and worked for a period on various railway lines in New South Wales and Queensland. He returned to Scotland on his retirement in 1892.