Family and Education

b. c.1680, 2nd s. of Richard Murray, M.P. [S], of Broughton by Anna, da. and de facto h. of Alexander Lennox of Cally; bro. of John Murray, M.P. [S]. educ. Glasgow 1696. m. 1726, Lady Euphemia Stewart, da. of James, 5th Earl of Galloway [S], 1s. James, M.P. suc. bro. 1704.

Offices Held

Biography

Of a family seated in Wigtownshire since the sixteenth century, sharing a common ancestry with the earls of Annandale, Murray inherited extensive estates in Kirkcudbright from his mother, the heiress of the Lennoxes of Cally. Returned for Kirkcudbright in 1715, he voted with the Administration except on the peerage bill in 1719, when he was absent. Re-elected unopposed in 1722, he lost the support of many of the freeholders by advocating leniency towards those who in 1724 rioted in protest against land enclosures in Kirkcudbright and Wigtownshire.1 Defeated in 1727, he considered petitioning, but desisted when advised that the petition would fail.2 He did not stand again himself but in 1740 he drafted a memorandum for a prospective Member, providing for safeguards against a Member who accepted a place or pursued a course of action without first informing his constituents.3 He died 1 May 1750.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: J. M. Simpson

Notes

• 1. R. Wodrow, Analecta (Maitland Club lx), iii. 159.
• 2. David Lidderdail to Murray, 2 Oct. 1727, SRO Murray of Broughton and Cally Pprs., letter 68.
• 3. Ibid. ms 1396.