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John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – 25 February 1809), known as Lord Dunmore, was a British nobleman and colonial governor in the
American colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...
and
The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
. He was the last colonial governor of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
. Lord Dunmore was named
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the
Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
in 1770. He succeeded to the same position in the Colony of Virginia the following year, after the death of
Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c. 1717 – 15 October 1770), was a British courtier, member of parliament, and royal governor of the colony of Virginia from 1768 until his death in 1770. Life Norborne Berkeley was born about 1 ...
. As Virginia's governor, Dunmore directed a series of campaigns against the trans-Appalachian Indians, known as Lord Dunmore's War. He is noted for issuing a 1775 document ( Dunmore's Proclamation) offering freedom to any enslaved person who fought for the Crown against the Patriots in Virginia. Dunmore fled to New York after the Burning of Norfolk in 1776 and later returned to Britain. He was Governor of the Bahama Islands from 1787 to 1796.


Family and early life

Murray was born in Taymouth, Scotland, the eldest son of William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore, by his marriage to Catherine Nairne; he was a nephew of John Murray, 2nd Earl of Dunmore. In 1745, both Murray, then only 15, and his father joined the ill-fated
Rising Rising may refer to: * Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique) *Elevation * Short for Uprising, a rebellion Film and TV * "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starg ...
of "
Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...
" (Charles Edward Stuart). The young Murray was appointed as a page to Prince Charles. The second Earl, his uncle, remained loyal to the Hanoverians. After the Jacobite army was defeated at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, William Murray was imprisoned in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
, and his family was put under house arrest. By 1750, William Murray had received a conditional pardon. John Murray was now aged twenty and joined the British Army. In 1756, after the deaths of his uncle and father, he became the fourth Earl of Dunmore. In 1759 Dunmore married Lady Charlotte Stewart (1740 – 11 November 1818), a daughter of
Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway ( – 24 September 1773) was a Scottish aristocrat. Early life Alexander was the eldest son of Lady Catherine Montgomerie and James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway, a Commissioner of the Scottish Treasury a ...
. They had five sons and three daughters: *Lady Catherine Murray (23 January 1760 – 7 July 1783) married the Hon. Edward Bouverie, son of William de Bouverie, 1st Earl of Radnor. They had no issue. * Lady Augusta Murray (27 January 1761 – 5 March 1830) in 1793 secretly married Prince Augustus Frederick, son of
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...
. Under the
Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo 3 c. 11) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages t ...
, the marriage was void and the children illegitimate — Sir Augustus d'Este and Augusta d'Este (later Baroness Truro). *
George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore Lord George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore FRSE (30 April 1762 – 11 November 1836), known as Viscount of Fincastle until 1809, was a Scottish peer. Life Murray was the eldest son of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, and Lady Charlotte (née Stew ...
(30 April 1762 – 11 November 1836) *Hon. William Murray (22 August 1763 – 27 May 1773) *Lt.-Col. Hon. Alexander Murray (12 October 1764 – July 1842). He married Deborah Hunt, daughter of Robert Hunt,
Governor of the Bahamas This is a list of governors of the Bahamas. The first English settlement in the Bahamas was on Eleuthera. In 1670, the king granted the Bahamas to the lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina, but the islands were left to themselves. The lo ...
. They had three sons and two daughters. *Hon. John Murray (25 February 1766 – 14 December 1824). Unmarried. *Lady Susan Murray (17 June 1767 – April 1826). She married, firstly, John Tharp, heir to a Jamaica sugar fortune. Secondly, she married John Drew, son of the Chichester banker John Drew; and lastly a clergyman in Ireland, the Reverend Archibald Edward Douglas. She had children by each, including John Tharp, who married Lady Hannah Charlotte Hay, daughter of
George Hay, 7th Marquess of Tweeddale George Hay, 7th Marquess of Tweeddale DL (1753 – 9 August 1804) was a Scottish peer. Early life Hay was born at Newhall in East Lothian, Scotland. He was the son of John Hay (d. 1765) and Dorothy ( Hayhurst) Hay (d. 1808). His siblings i ...
. *Hon. Leveson Granville Keith Murray (16 December 1770 – 4 January 1835). He married three times, the first of which was Wemyss Dalrymple, daughter of Sir William Dalrymple of Cousland, 3rd Baronet, and together they had a daughter, Jane. Secondly, an Anne, by whom he had two sons and a daughter. His last wife was Louisa Mitty Abraham.


Colonial governor of New York

Dunmore was named the British governor of the
Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
from 1770 to 1771. Soon after his appointment, in 1770, Virginia's governor,
Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c. 1717 – 15 October 1770), was a British courtier, member of parliament, and royal governor of the colony of Virginia from 1768 until his death in 1770. Life Norborne Berkeley was born about 1 ...
(Lord Botetourt) died, and Dunmore was eventually named to replace him. William Nelson was named as interim Governor.


Colonial governor of Virginia


Dunmore's War

Dunmore became royal governor of the Colony of Virginia on 25 September 1771. Despite growing issues with Great Britain, his predecessor, Lord Botetourt, had been a popular governor in Virginia, even though he served only two years before his death. As Virginia's colonial governor, Dunmore directed a series of campaigns against the Indians known as Lord Dunmore's War. The
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
were the main target of these attacks. His avowed purpose was to strengthen Virginia's claims in the west, particularly in the Ohio Country. However, as a byproduct it was known he would increase his power base. Some even accused Dunmore of colluding with the Shawnees and arranging the war to deplete the Virginia militia and help safeguard the Loyalist cause, should there be a colonial rebellion. Dunmore, in his history of the Indian Wars, denied these accusations.Roosevelt, Theodore (1889)

Chapters VIII "Lord Dunmore's War" and XI "The Battle of the Great Kanawha", passim.


Battle for control

Lacking diplomatic skills, Dunmore tried to govern without consulting the
House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...
of the Colonial Assembly for more than a year, which exacerbated an already tense situation. When Dunmore finally convened the Colonial Assembly in March 1773, which was the only way he could deal with fiscal issues to financially support his war through additional taxation, the burgesses instead first resolved to form a committee of correspondence to communicate their continued concerns about the Townshend Acts and Gaspee Affair to Great Britain. Dunmore immediately postponed the Assembly. Many burgesses gathered a short distance away at the
Raleigh Tavern The Raleigh Tavern was a tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was one of the largest taverns in colonial Virginia. It gained some fame in the pre- American Revolutionary War Colony of Virginia as a gathering place for legislators after severa ...
and continued discussing their problems with the new taxes, perceived corruption, and lack of representation in England. When Dunmore reconvened the Assembly in 1774, the burgesses passed a resolution declaring 1 June 1774 a day of fasting and prayer in Virginia. In response, Dunmore dissolved the House. The burgesses again reconvened as the
Second Virginia Convention The Virginia Conventions have been the assemblies of delegates elected for the purpose of establishing constitutions of fundamental law for the Commonwealth of Virginia superior to General Assembly legislation. Their constitutions and subsequ ...
and elected delegates to the Continental Congress. Dunmore issued a proclamation against electing delegates to the Congress, but failed to take serious action. In March 1775, Patrick Henry's " Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" speech delivered at St. John's Episcopal Church in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...
helped convince delegates to approve a resolution calling for armed resistance.Red Hill
.
In the face of rising unrest in the colony, Dunmore sought to deprive Virginia's militia of military supplies. Dunmore gave the key to the Williamsburg magazine to Lieutenant Henry Colins, commander of HMS ''Magdalen'', and ordered him to remove the powder, provoking what became known as the Gunpowder Incident. On the night of 20 April 1775, royal marines loaded fifteen half-barrels of powder into the governor's wagon, intent on transporting it down the Quarterpath Road to the James River and the British warship. Local militia rallied, and word of the incident spread across the colony.


Confrontation with the Hanover militia

The Hanover militia, led by Patrick Henry, arrived outside Williamsburg on 3 May. That same day, Dunmore evacuated his family from the Governor's Palace to his hunting lodge, Porto Bello in nearby York County. On 6 May, Dunmore issued a proclamation against "a ''certain'' Patrick Henry... and a Number of deluded Followers" who had organised "an Independent Company... and put themselves in a Posture of War." Dunmore threatened to impose martial law and eventually retreated to Porto Bello to join his family. Dislodged by the Virginia rebels and wounded in the leg, on 8 June, Dunmore took refuge on the British warship in the York River. Over the following months, Dunmore sent many raiding parties to plunder plantations along the James,
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, and Potomac rivers, particularly those owned by rebels. The raiders exacerbated tensions, since they not only stole supplies, they also encouraged slaves to rebel. In December,
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
, who had been installed only months before as commander in chief of the Continental Army, commented, "I do not think that forcing his lordship on shipboard is sufficient. Nothing less than depriving him of life or liberty will secure peace to Virginia, as motives of resentment actuate his conduct to a degree equal to the total destruction of that colony."


Dunmore's Proclamation

Dunmore is noted for Dunmore's Proclamation, also known as Lord Dunmore's Offer of Emancipation. Dated 7 November 1775 but proclaimed a week later, Dunmore thereby formally offered freedom to slaves who abandoned their Patriot masters to join the British. Dunmore had previously withheld his signature from a bill against the slave trade. The proclamation appeared to respond to the legislature's proclamation that Dunmore had resigned his position by boarding a warship off Yorktown nearly six months earlier. However, by the end of the war, an estimated 800 to 2000 escaped slaves sought refuge with the British; some served in the army, though the majority served in noncombatant roles. Dunmore organized these Black Loyalists into his
Ethiopian Regiment The Ethiopian Regiment, better known as Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, was a British colonial military unit organized during the American Revolution by the Earl of Dunmore, last Royal Governor of Virginia. Composed of formerly enslaved peopl ...
. However, despite winning the Battle of Kemp's Landing on 17 November 1775, Dunmore lost decisively at the Battle of Great Bridge on 9 December 1775. Following that defeat, Dunmore loaded his troops, and many Virginia Loyalists, onto British ships. Smallpox spread in the confined quarters, and some 500 of the 800 members of the Ethiopian Regiment died.


Final skirmishes and return to Britain

On New Year's Day in 1776, Dunmore gave orders to burn waterfront buildings in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...
from which patriot troops were firing on his ships. However, the fire spread. The city burned, and with it, any hope that Dunmore's loyalists could return to Virginia. Dunmore retreated to New York. Some ships of his refugee fleet were sent south, mainly to Florida. When he realized he could not regain control in Virginia, Dunmore returned to Britain in July 1776. Dunmore continued to draw his pay as the colony's governor until 1783 when Britain recognized American independence.


Colonial governor of the Bahamas

From 1787 to 1796, Dunmore served as
governor of the Bahamas This is a list of governors of the Bahamas. The first English settlement in the Bahamas was on Eleuthera. In 1670, the king granted the Bahamas to the lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina, but the islands were left to themselves. The lo ...
. During his tenure as governor, the British issued land grants to American Loyalists who went into exile. The sparse population of the Bahamas tripled within a few years. The Loyalists developed cotton as a commodity crop, but it dwindled from insect damage and soil exhaustion. In addition to slaves they brought with them, the Loyalist planters' descendants imported more African slaves for labour.


Peerage

Dunmore sat as a Scottish representative peer in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
from 1761 to 1774 and from 1776 to 1790.


Death

Dunmore died on 25 February 1809 in Ramsgate in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, George. The Countess of Dunmore died in 1819.


Legacy

* Dunmore County, Virginia, formed in 1772, was named in his honour. However, as the American Revolution got underway, the citizens changed its name to
Shenandoah County Shenandoah County (formerly Dunmore County) is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 44,186. Its county seat is Woodstock. It is part of the Shenandoah Valley region of Virgin ...
in 1778. *
Lake Dunmore Lake Dunmore is a freshwater lake in Addison County, Vermont. The lake spans the towns of Salisbury and Leicester and has a surface area of 985 acres (3.98 km2). Lake Dunmore is over 3 miles long (oriented north-south) and up to 1 mile wid ...
in Salisbury, Vermont, was named after him in 1773, since he had claimed ownership of the area while he was Governor of New York.Zaremba, Robert E. and Danielle R. Jeanloz
Around Middlebury
(Arcadia Publishing, 2000), p. 95.
* Porto Bello, the hunting lodge of Lord Dunmore, still stands on the grounds of Camp Peary in York County, Virginia. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. Access to the base is highly restricted, so the structure is not available for public viewing. *The
Dunmore Pineapple Dunmore from the ga, Dún Mór, link=no or gd, Dùn Mòr, link=no, meaning "great fort", may refer to: People * Dunmore (surname) * Earl of Dunmore, a title in the Peerage of Scotland, includes a list of earls * Countess of Dunmore (disambigu ...
was built in 1761 before he left Scotland. The building is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is leased to the
Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headqua ...
who use it to provide holiday accommodation. The gardens are open to the public year-round. *Dunmore Street in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...
, was named for him. It is said that the naming of Dunmore Street was not to honour the ex-governor, but to celebrate the place in Norfolk where he had last set foot. *The borough of Dunmore in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, is named after Dunmore Park in Scotland, location of the Dunmore Pineapple. *Lord Dunmore Drive in Virginia Beach, Virginia. *
Dunmore Town Dunmore Town is a town in the Bahamas. It has a population of 1,762 (2010 census). It is the only town at Harbour Island A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of wa ...
, Harbour Island, North Eleuthera,
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
.


References


Further reading


Ebook (full view)
* David, James Corbett. ''Dunmore's New World: The Extraordinary Life of a Royal Governor in Revolutionary America---with Jacobites, Counterfeiters, Land Schemes, Shipwrecks, Scalping, Indian Politics, Runaway Slaves, and Two Illegal Royal Weddings'' (University of Virginia Press; 2013) 280 pages *
Url


External links

*
Biography
at Encyclopedia Virginia {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunmore, John Murray, 4th Earl Of 1730 births 1809 deaths British governors of the Bahamas British officials in the American Revolution Colonial governors of Virginia
Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...
Earls of Dunmore People in Dunmore's War John Scottish representative peers Presidents of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York