James Murray (1732–1782) was a non-conformist minister of the Church of Scotland and prolific religious author. He expressed his views freely, being strongly anti-Catholic and opposed to the American War of Independence. He also made political comments, condemning the administration of Lord North from 1770 onwards. His most infamous publication was the satirical "Sermons to Asses" of 1768 (multiple later editions) and the illustrated history "An Impartial History of the Present War in America".

Life

He was born at Fans near Earlston in Berwickshire the son of John Murray. He was educated locally then, somewhat late in life, went to Edinburgh University where he completed his study of Divinity in 1760.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 7; by Hew Scott He became tutor to the family of

William Weddell William Weddell (13 May 1736 – 30 April 1792) of Newby Hall in the parish of Skelton-on-Ure, near Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1766 and 1792. He created a ...

of Belford, Northumberland for a year then became assistant to the minister of Bondgate Church in

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

. Around 1763 he had a dispute and left Bondgate church taking a large proportion of the congregation with him and founding the Bailliffgate Square Church (now a museum). In 1764 he was offered a position by the Church of Scotland as minister of the newly completed High Bridge Church in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

. He remained there for the rest of his life and died in Newcastle on 28 January 1782 aged 49

Family

He married Sarah Weddell, daughter of

. Their children included *Dr John Murray MD (1768-1833) of Newcastle *Isabella Murray, married her cousin James Murray *William *Jane *Sarah

Publications

*The History of Religion 4.vols (1762) *Select Discourses (1765) *Sermons to Asses (1768) *An Essay on Redemption by Jesus Christ (1768) *Sermons to Doctors in Divinity (1768) *Sermons to Men, Women and Children (1768) *Rudiments of the English Tongue (1771) *A History of the Churches in England and Scotland from the Reformation to This Present Time (1772) *New Sermons to Asses (1773) *The Travels of the Imagination (1773) *The Character of Eglon, King of

Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...

(1773) *Lectures to Lords Spiritual (1774) *A Grave Answer to Mr Wesley's "Calm Address to our American Colonies" (1775) *The Old Fox

Tarred and Feathered Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a t ...

(1775) *Lectures upon the Most Remarkable Characters and Transactions Recorded in the Book of Genesis 2 vols. (1777) *The Magazine of Ants (1777) *Lectures upon the Book of Revelation 2 vols. (1778) *The New Maid of the Oaks, a Tragedy (1778) *An Impartial History of the Present War in America (vol.1 1778, vol.2 1780) *Sermons to Ministers of State (1781) *Sermons for the General Fast Day (1781) *The Fast, a Poem (1781) *News from the Pope to the Devil (1781) *Popery not Christianity (1781) *An Alarm Without Cause (dnk)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James 1732 births 1782 deaths Scottish historians Scottish Presbyterian ministers ordained outside Scotland