Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Murray Keith KCB PC

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(the younger) (20 September 1730 – 22 June 1795) was a British soldier, diplomat and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

from 1775 to 1780.

Early life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the eldest son of

Robert Murray Keith Robert Murray Keith (died 1774) was a British diplomat. He was descended from a younger son of the 2nd Earl Marischal. Keith was minister in Vienna in 1748 and from 1753 Minister-plenipotentiary. In 1757, he transferred to St. Petersburg (arriv ...

and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir William Cunningham, 2nd baronet, of Caprington. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh. He took the additional name Murray on inheriting the estates of Murrayshall (formerly Halmyre) at the death of his great-uncle Robert Murray on 8 February 1743.

Soldier

Destined for a military career, he was sent to an academy in London and was commissioned a cornet in 1747 and quickly transferred to a Scots Brigade in Dutch service, with which he remained until the regiment was reduced in 1752. He then returned to England, but failed to gain a British commission. He therefore traveled with Frederick Campbell to visit his father in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he was Minister and look for military employment. In 1755, he was recalled to the Scots Brigade, but rejoined the British Army in 1757 as a captain in the 73rd Regiment of Foot. On the recommendation of Colonel

Henry Seymour Conway Field Marshal Henry Seymour Conway (1721 – 9 July 1795) was a British general and statesman. A brother of the 1st Marquess of Hertford, and cousin of Horace Walpole, he began his military career in the War of the Austrian Succession. He ...

, he was made aide-de-camp to

Lord George Sackville George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785), styled The Honourable George Sackville until 1720, Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770 and Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782, was a British soldier and p ...

and fought at the

Battle of Minden The Battle of Minden was a major engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of F ...

. A month later he carried news of Sackville resignation to London, where he met

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

. He employed Keith to raise companies of Highland Volunteers, later called

87th Regiment of Foot (Keith's Highlanders) The 87th Regiment of Foot (Keith's Highlanders) was a Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1759 and disbanded in 1763. History The regiment was raised at Perth as Keith's Highlanders by Robert Murray Keith who regimented thr ...

, with him as major commandant, and from 1760 colonel commandant. From 1760 to 1762, his regiment served in Germany, involved in several engagements. However, after the war, his regiment was disbanded, and he was placed on half pay. After visiting Paris, he settled in London.

Diplomat and later life

Keith's knowledge of German and friendship with Pitt and Conway enabled him to be appointed Envoy-extraordinary to Saxony in 1769. He transferred in 1771 to be minister in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. In the face of a worsening political situation for Johan Friedrich Struensee the minister who ruled

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

for the insane

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae''" ...

and his Queen Caroline Matilda, a sister of

George III of Great Britain 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 Br ...

(and without instructions), he threatened a British naval bombardment of

if the queen was harmed. This frightened the Danes and earned the gratitude of the king who made him a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

. They allowed the queen to withdraw to

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. After escorting her there he returned to London. His next appointment was as Envoy-extraordinary to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he remained 20 years. This post was a difficult one as he at times rarely received instructions from London. Furthermore, relations were at times strained during Austria's War with Turkey at the end of his time there. He returned home in 1774 to settle his father's estate. His London friends wanted him to enter Parliament for

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a 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 Lan ...

in 1775. He was elected and retained the seat until 1780, without ever attending the House of Commons. His financial position was improved by his being appointed Colonel of

10th Regiment of Foot 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

in 1781 and a Lieutenant-General the following year. He came home in 1788 and was made a Privy Councillor in 1789, but then returned to Vienna, where his final duties included attending the

Congress of Sistovo A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, which ended the Turkish war. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1786. His proposers were James Gregory, William Miller and Robert Arbuthnot of Haddo. Keith's daughter, writer Amelia Gillespie Smyth, was born in Vienna in 1788. He retired in 1792 and settled in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, where he died suddenly three years later.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Robert Murray II 1730 births 1795 deaths Politicians from Edinburgh Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War Ambassadors of Great Britain to Denmark Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Holy Roman Emperor Military personnel from Edinburgh Diplomats from Edinburgh British Army lieutenant generals 73rd Regiment of Foot officers