Murray Macneill

Murray Macneill (also spelled MacNeill) (January 7, 1877 – February 16, 1951) was a curler from Nova Scotia.[1] He is the first skip to win the Brier, back in 1927. He began curling in his back yard while he was a boy in Saint John, New Brunswick. He was always competitive and went on to become one of the top curlers in Maritime Canada. After he became a professor of mathematics at Dalhousie University, Macneill was selected to be skip of the Nova Scotia team at the first Canadian Men's Curling Championship, held in the first week of March 1927 at the Granite Curling Club in Toronto.

Dr. Murray Macneill
Curler
Born	(1877-01-07)January 7, 1877 Maitland, Nova Scotia
Died	February 16, 1951(1951-02-16) (aged 74) Halifax, Nova Scotia
Medal record Representing Nova Scotia Macdonald Brier 1927 Toronto

Curling games had a marathon aspect at that time, being of 14 ends duration. Macneill and his team started well, winning four of their first five games, and then, in the last draw, came back from an eight-point deficit to capture the championship, which, before the next year's event came to be known as The Brier.¹

Macneill returned to the Brier in 1930, 1932 and 1936. Macneill was also a first cousin of author Lucy Maud Montgomery.[2]

Macneill served as President of the Canadian Curling Association from 1948 to 1949.[3] He died of pancreatic cancer in 1951, aged 74.[4][5]