Thomas David King Murray, Lord Birnam, (29 March 1884 – 5 June 1955), known as Lord Murray between 1938 and 1941 and Sir David King Murray between 1941 and 1945, was a Scottish advocate and judge who served for two years as Unionist Member of Parliament (MP).

Early life

King Murray was born on 29 March 1884, the son of James Murray of Greenknowe,

Bothwell Bothwell () is a Protected area, conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland and part of the Greater Glasgow area. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton, ...

, Lanrkshire who was a merchant in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He was educated at

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a Boarding school, boarding and day school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was founded in 1588 as a boy's school and was open for nearly four centuries. In the late 19th century, ...

and the Glasgow High School. He graduated from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

with an MA in 1904, a BSc in 1905 and an

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1908.

Career

King Murray was trained as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

with the company of Russell & Duncan, WS. He was admitted as an advocate on 18 March 1910, the same day as the future Lord President

Wilfrid Normand Wilfrid Guild Normand, Baron Normand, (1884 – 5 October 1962), was a Scottish Unionist Party politician and judge. He was a Scottish law officer at various stages between 1929 and 1935, and a member of parliament (MP) from 1931 to 1935. He ...

. In

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, King Murray served as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two Volunteer Reserves (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve (United Kingdom), ...

. After the war, he resumed his legal practice and was Junior Counsel to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

in Scotland from 1927 to 1928. He was then

Sheriff-Substitute In the Courts of Scotland, sheriff-substitute was the historical name for the judges who sit in the local sheriff courts under the direction of the sheriffs principal; from 1971 the sheriffs substitute were renamed simply as sheriff. When researc ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

at Airdrie from 1928 until he became a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in August 1933. He then resigned as sheriff to return to practice in the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

. Having taken silk, King Murray was a Senior

Advocate Depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecutor, prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Charles III of the United Kingd ...

(prosecutor) from 1936 to 1938. He was regarded as one of the leading King's Counsels of his day. In May 1938, he appointed as Chairman of the

Scottish Land Court The Scottish Land Court () is a Courts of Scotland, Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to Tenant farmer, agricultural tenancies, and matters relat ...

, succeeding the late Lord MacGregor Mitchell. On his appointment, ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' newspaper noted that the new judge had "taken a prominent part in political work for the Unionist Party". He took the judicial title Lord Murray, and chaired the court until June 1941, when he joined the wartime coalition government as

Solicitor General for Scotland His Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland () is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Scottish Government on Scots Law. They are also responsible for the Crown Office and P ...

. He dropped the judicial title Lord Murray, and was knighted in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are ...

. Murray was succeeded at the Land Court by Robert Gibson, another former pupil of the

. He was knighted by King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

in 1941. In the same year he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...

. His proposers were Thomas Graham Robertson, Lord Robertson,

James Pickering Kendall James Pickering Kendall FRS FRSE (30 July 1889, in Chobham, Surrey – 14 June 1978, in Edinburgh) was a British chemist. Life Kendall was born in Chobham, Surrey to soldier William Henry Kendall of the Royal Horse Artillery, and his second wi ...

Thomas James Jehu Thomas John Jehu (19 February 1871 – 18 July 1943) was a British physician and geologist. The Jehu-Campbell Fossil Collection at the University of Edinburgh was donated by Jehu in combination with Robert Campbell and is now the main component o ...

and

George Freeland Barbour Simpson George Freeland Barbour Simpson FRSE FRCPE FRCSE JP (21 September 1874 – 8 April 1958) was a 20th-century Scottish physician and gynaecologist. In 1913 he served as President of the Obstetrical Society of Edinburgh. Life He was born on 21 ...

. He was Chairman of the Scottish Coalfields Committee from 1942 to 1944. He was

from 1941 to 1945, and was elected at a closely fought by-election in 1943 as the Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Midlothian and Peebles North. He was knighted in 1941. Murray retired from the

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

at the 1945 general election and was appointed a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

in Scotland and Lord of Session in 1945, with the judicial title Lord Birnam.

Family

In 1946 he married Edith Lillian Archer. His nephew was

Ronald King Murray, Lord Murray Ronald King Murray, Lord Murray, PC (15 June 1922 – 27 September 2016) was a Scottish Labour politician and judge who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice in 1979. Life Educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, the University ...

Sources

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, David King 1884 births 1955 deaths Chairs of the Scottish Land Court Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Members of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 People educated at Hamilton Academy People educated at the High School of Glasgow People from Bothwell 20th-century King's Counsel Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Scottish King's Counsel Scottish knights Birnam Solicitors general for Scotland UK MPs 1935–1945 Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs Politicians from South Lanarkshire