MURRAY, James (1734-94), of Strowan, Perth.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

11 June 1773 - 19 Mar. 1794

Family and Education

b. 19 Mar. 1734, 2nd s. of Lord George Murray, and bro. of George Murray*. educ. Utrecht 1749-51; Besançon 1754-5. unm. 2s.1

Offices Held

Lt. Saxon grenadiers 1749-57; capt. 42 Ft. 1757; capt.-lt. 3 Ft. Gds. 1769, capt. and lt.-col. 1770, brevet col. 1777; col. 77 Ft. 1777-83, 72 Ft. 1783-d.; maj.-gen. 1782, lt.-gen. 1793.

Gov. Upnor Castle 1775-8, Fort William 1780-d.

Biography

Murray’s re-election for Perthshire on the interest of his nephew the 4th Duke of Atholl in 1790 was contested, but he retained the seat comfortably. He continued to support Pitt and, as expected, voted against the relief of Scotsmen from the Test Act, 10 May 1791. He is not known to have spoken in the House in this period. Wounds sustained in 1762 had seriously disabled him. In June 1792 he claimed to be in ‘perfectly good’ health and hoped ‘in a couple of years hence, to make a tour on the Continent’, but early in 1794 he fell seriously ill. After concerting plans with Atholl for the transfer of his seat to a kinsman, he informed Henry Dundas, 2 Mar., that he wished to vacate ‘as immediately as may be’. It is not clear whether Murray actually took the Chiltern Hundreds before he died, 19 Mar. 1794.2

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: David R. Fisher

Notes

  • 1. Atholl. Chrons. iv. 141.
  • 2. Add. 41199, f. 92; J. M. Graham, Lord Lynedoch (1877), 42-53; SRO GD51/1/198/21/3-13; CJ, xlix. 370.