Alexander William Charles Oliphant Murray, 1st Baron Murray of Elibank (12 April 1870 – 13 September 1920), called The Master of Elibank between 1871 and 1912, was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

nobleman and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician. He served as

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the official title of the most senior whip of the governing party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Today, any official links between the Treasury and this office are nominal and the title ...

(Chief Government Whip) under

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

between 1910 and 1912, when he was forced to resign after being implicated in the

Marconi scandal The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in mid-1912. Allegations were made that highly placed members of the Liberal government under the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith had profited by improper use of information about the g ...

Background and education

Elibank was the eldest son of

Montolieu Oliphant-Murray, 1st Viscount Elibank Commander (Royal Navy), Commander Montolieu Fox Oliphant Murray, 1st Viscount Elibank, (27 April 1840 – 20 February 1927) was a British nobleman. The eldest son of Alexander Oliphant-Murray, 9th Lord Elibank and Emily Montgomery, he was educat ...

, and Blanche Alice, daughter of Edward John Scott. He was educated at

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

.''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

1916–1928'', p. 763.

Political career

Elibank unsuccessfully contested Edinburgh West in May 1895, Peebles and Selkirk in July 1895 and the

City of York The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. ...

by-election of 1900. However, in October 1900 he was successfully returned to parliament for

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, a seat he held until 1906 and again from 1910 to 1912. From 1906 to 1910 he represented Peebles and Selkirk. In the aftermath of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

(1899-1902), Elibank travelled to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

visiting the

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom. It became the Botswana, Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966. History Scottish missionary ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

and

Delagoa Bay Delagoa is a marine ecoregion along the eastern coast of Africa. It extends along the coast of Mozambique and South Africa from the Bazaruto Archipelago (21°14’ S) to Lake St. Lucia in South Africa (28° 10' S) in South Africa's Kwazulu-Nat ...

. When the Liberals came to power in December 1905 under

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Liberal Party (UK)#Liberal le ...

, Elibank was appointed

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

, a post he retained when

became Prime Minister in April 1908, and then served as

Under-Secretary of State for India This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the period of British rule between 1858 and 1937 for India (and Burma by extension), and for India and Burma from 193 ...

between 1909 and 1910. The latter year he was made

(Chief Government Whip). In 1911 he was sworn of the Privy Council. However, he was forced to resign in August 1912 after being accused of

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

in the

. Later the same month he was raised to the peerage as Baron Murray of Elibank, of Elibank in the County of Selkirk. Apart from his political career Elibank was a partner in S. Pearson and Son Ltd.

Personal life

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

Murray of Elibank married Hilda Louisa Janey, daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir James Wolfe Murray, in 1894. They had no children. He died in September 1920, aged 50, predeceasing his father by seven years. The barony of Murray of Elibank became extinct on his death while his younger brother

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Gideon was th ...

eventually succeeded in the viscountcy of Elibank. Lady Murray of Elibank died in September 1929.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elibank, Alexander Murray, 1st Baron 1870 births 1920 deaths Nobility from the Scottish Borders Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs who were granted peerages Heirs apparent who never acceded Barons created by George V