Murray quintuplets will be honoured during special ceremony

The Municipality of Pictou County will be unveiling a plaque dedicated to the first recorded birth of quintuplets in Canada.

Council agreed in the fall of 2018 to honour the Murray quintuplets and this significant birth in the country. The ceremony will take place Feb. 2 in the Municipality of Pictou County chambers at 1 p.m., followed by a light reception.

The three girls and two boys were born to Adam and Maria (Rankin) Murray of Little Egypt Road, Hillside, N.S., on Feb. 15, 1880. The quintuplets all died within days of their birth. Several newspaper articles documented the historic birth and records indicate their arrival caused a huge stir in the small, rural community with people coming for miles to see the babies.

District 9 Coun. Peter Boyles, who brought the original motion to council, said he has been in touch with many people from the Murray family who are interested in attending the event.

“This is a great opportunity to honour the birth of the Murray quintuplets and for the members of the Murray family to come together,” said Boyles, adding relatives as far away as Cape Breton are expected to attend the ceremony.

Pictou County councillors as well as local provincial and federal politicians are being invited to the ceremony that will also include a special presentation by local historians Clyde MacDonald and Philip MacKenzie.

Fifty-three years later, the Dionne quintuplets were born outside Callendar, Ont., and were the first quints known to have survived their infancy. The five identical girls all lived to adulthood.

The Murray quintuplets plaque will be hung in the administration building for the Municipality of Pictou County for public viewing.