William Murray, 2nd Lord Nairne (''c.'' 1665 – 3 February 1726) was a
Scottish peer and
Jacobite who fought in the
Rising of 1715, after which he was
attainted
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary ...
and condemned to death for treason, but in 1717 he was indemnified and released.
In 1721, he was created Earl of Nairne in the
Jacobite peerage.
Life
Born about 1665, the fourth son of
John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl
John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, KT (2 May 16316 May 1703) was a leading Scottish royalist and defender of the Stuarts during the English Civil War of the 1640s, until after the rise to power of William and Mary in 1689. He succeeded as 2nd ...
, by his marriage to Lady Amelia Sophia, a daughter of
James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, KG (31 January 160715 October 1651) was an English nobleman, politician, and supporter of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Before inheriting the title in 1642 he was known as Lord Strange. He was ...
, Murray was the younger brother of
John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl
John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl, KT, PC (24 February 166014 November 1724) was a Scottish nobleman, politician, and soldier. He served in numerous positions during his life, and fought in the Glorious Revolution for William III and Mary II.
...
.
[ Melville Henry Massue, Marquess of Ruvigny & Raineval, ''The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Grants of Honour'' (Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003 edition)]
p. 126
/ref> His grandmother, Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby
Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby (December 1599 – 31 March 1664), born Charlotte de La Trémoille, is famous for her robust defence of Lathom House during the English Civil War.
Early life
Charlotte, born at the chateau of Thouars, Poitou ...
(1599–1664), a daughter of Claude de La Trémoille
Claude de La Trémoille, 2nd Duke of Thouars (1566 – 25 October 1604) was a sixteenth-century French nobleman of the La Tremoille family. He was the son of Louis III de La Trémoille and his wife, Jeanne de Montmorency.
King Henry IV of Fr ...
, Duke of Thouars (1566–1604) was famous in her own right for her defence of Lathom House against Parliamentary forces during the First English Civil War
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...
in 1644.
In February 1680 William Murray married ten-year-old Margaret Nairne (born on 16 December 1669), the only daughter and heiress of Robert Nairne. In 1681 Nairne, an octogenarian who had no sons, was created by King Charles II Lord Nairne
Lord Nairne is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created by Charles II for Sir Robert Nairne of Strathord in 1681, which since 1995 is held by the Viscount Mersey.
History
Sir Robert Nairne of Strathord (c. 1620–1683), a supporter of Charle ...
, in the peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, ...
, with a special remainder
In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the n ...
to his son-in-law. Thus, when Nairne died on 30 May 1683, Murray succeeded him in the peerage. He took his seat in the Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...
on 22 October 1690, but he never took the oath of allegiance to the new monarchs, William III William III or William the Third may refer to:
Kings
* William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198)
* William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702)
* William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
and Mary II
Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.
Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...
, who in the Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
of 1688 had unseated the last Stuart king, James II.[
Unlike his brother John, who had taken the side of William and Mary and was created Earl of Tullibardine by William in 1696 and ]Duke of Atholl
Duke of Atholl, named for Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of h ...
by Queen Anne, Nairne's loyalties remained with King James and his heirs. At the time of the Jacobite rising of 1715
The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ;
or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts
The House of Stuart, ori ...
, Nairne was one of the first to rally to the cause of the Old Pretender
James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...
when John Erskine, Earl of Mar, proclaimed him King at Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an elevation of .
The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' prop ...
on 6 September 1715, and Nairne fought through Mar's autumn campaign.[ On 14 November 1715, after the disastrous Battle of Preston, Nairne was taken prisoner and was sent from there to 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 separa ...
.[
On 9 February 1716 Nairne was tried for ]treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, found guilty, attainted
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary ...
, and condemned to death. However, his execution was stayed and he lived to benefit from the Indemnity Act of 1717, so in December of that year was released. On 24 June 1721 he was created Earl of Nairne in the Jacobite peerage and died on 3 February 1726. His widow survived him until 1747.[
]
Children and posterity
*Hon. Margaret married William Drummond, 4th Viscount Strathallan
William Drummond, 4th Viscount Strathallan (1690 – 16 April 1746) was a Scottish peer and Jacobite, who died at the Battle of Culloden.
Pardoned for his part in the 1715 Rising, he raised a troop of cavalry for Prince Charles in 1745 an ...
, in 1712, and they had four sons, James, Robert, William, and Henry Drummond. She lived until 1773. Her husband and eldest son took part in the Forty-Five
Forty-fives (also known as Auction Forty-Fives, Auction 120s, 120, and Growl) is a trick-taking card game that originated in Ireland. The game is popular in many communities throughout Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, P ...
, during which Strathallan was killed at Culloden on 16 April 1745, and after which her son was attainted. However, her grandson James Andrew Drummond was restored to the family's honours by an Act of Parliament of 1824, thus regaining the title of Viscount Strathallan {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The title of Lord Maderty was created in 1609 for James Drummond, a younger son of the 2nd Lord Drummond of Cargill. The titles of Viscount Strathallan and Lord Drummond of Cromlix were created in 1686 for Willia ...
.[ John Burke, 'Drummond of Cadlands' in ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank'' (Henry Colburne, 1836)]
p. 560
/ref> In 1902 his heir succeeded a distant kinsman as Earl of Perth.
*Hon. Catherine who married William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, son of Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore
Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore (1661–1710) was a British peer, previously Lord Charles Murray.
The second son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, he rose to become a general in the British Army and was created Earl of Dunmore, Lord M ...
. They had three sons, and two daughters.
*Hon. Robert (d. 16 Apr 1746). He married Jean Mercer of Aldie, daughter of Sir Laurence Mercer of Aldie and Helen Mercer (maternal granddaughter of Sir Thomas Stewart, 12th Laird of Grandtully. They had a son, and a daughter. He was killed at the Battle of Culloden.
*John, Master of Nairne (c. 1691 - 11 July 1770). Like his sister he married one of the children of Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore, Lady Catherine. They had three sons who survived infancy. He would likewise fight as a Jacobite during the Rising, but survived, and escaped to Sweden, and eventually settled in France.
*Hon. Henrieta Murray (b. 1714). Died unmarried.
*Hon. Charlotte, who married John Robertson, 11th Laird of Lude. They had two sons, and a daughter.
*Hon. May Marjorie, who married Duncan Robertson, 14th Chief of Clan Donnachaidh. They had at least two sons, and a daughter.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nairne, William Murray, 2nd Lord
1660s births
1726 deaths
Scottish Jacobites
Lords of Parliament (pre-1707)
Earls in the Jacobite peerage
Younger sons of marquesses