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

The monument to Lord Henderland, St Cuthberts, Edinburgh

Life

Born at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

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 ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, 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 const ...

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 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 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. T ...

for Peeblesshire. 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, as an ordinary lord of session and a commissioner of the court of justiciary, 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 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. 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 Lawyers from Edinburgh