Alexander Murray, Lord Henderland (11 May 1736 – 16 March 1795) was a Scottish judge and politician. Lord Henderland Martin

Life

Born at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

House west of Edinburgh's Old Town on 11 May 1736, he was the son of Archibald Murray of Cringletie, an advocate. He studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, and was called to the

Scottish bar The Faculty of Advocates () is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a consti ...

on 7 March 1758, and succeeded his father as sheriff-depute of Peebles in 1761, and as one of the commissaries of Edinburgh in 1765. He inherited the estate of Henderland in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

around 1760. On 24 May 1775 Murray was appointed solicitor-general for Scotland, and at the general election in September 1780 was returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

for

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a Counties of Scotland, historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire ...

. The only speech he is recorded to have made in parliament was in opposition to Sir George Savile's motion relating to the petition of the delegated counties for a redress of grievances. Murray succeeded

Henry Home, Lord Kames Henry Home, Lord Kames (1696–27 December 1782) was a Scottish writer, philosopher and judge who played a major role in Scottish Agricultural Revolution, Scotland's Agricultural Revolution. A central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, ...

, as an

ordinary lord of session The Outer House (abbreviated as CSOH in neutral citations) is one of the two parts of the Scottish Court of Session, which is the supreme civil court in Scotland. It is a court of first instance, although some statutory appeals are remitted to ...

and a commissioner of the

court of justiciary The High Court of Justiciary () is the Supreme Courts of Scotland, supreme Scottish criminal law, criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a court of first instance, trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Cour ...

, and took his seat on the bench with the title of Lord Henderland on 6 March 1783. He took part in the trials for sedition at Edinburgh in 1793, and died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

at Murrayfield on 16 March 1795. He is buried in St Cuthberts Churchyard in Edinburgh, beneath a huge monument, to the north side of the church.

Recognition

The district of

takes the name of his family, as does the street name of Henderland Road within that district.

Works

Murray's ''Disputatio Juridica . . . de Divortiis et Repudiis'' was published in 1758 (Edinburgh).

Family

On 15 March 1773 he married Katherine Lindsay (1737-1828), daughter of Sir Alexander Lindsay, 3rd Baronet of Evelick,

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

. Their children included Sir John Archibald Murray, Lord Murray. Henderland was joint clerk of the pipe in the court of exchequer, an office which, through the influence of Lord Melville, was subsequently conferred on his two sons. His sister Susan married Sir Ilay Campbell.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Alexander 1736 births 1795 deaths Politicians from Edinburgh Scottish sheriffs Henderland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Solicitors general for Scotland British MPs 1780–1784 Deaths from cholera in the United Kingdom Lawyers from Edinburgh