David William Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield, KT (7 March 1777 – 18 February 1840) was a British army officer and peer, who served as

Lord Lieutenant of Clackmannanshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Clackmannanshire. The official title of the office has varied over time as follows: :His or Her Majesty's Lieutenant in the County of Clackmannan 1794–1975 :Lord-Lieutenant in th ...

from 1803 until his death.

Early life

Murray was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1777 to David Murray, then 7th Viscount Stormont, and Louisa, daughter of

Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart Lieutenant-General Charles Schaw Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart, KT (21 March 1721 – 14 August 1776) was a British Army officer and diplomat. He was also chief of the Clan Cathcart. Biography The son of Charles Cathcart, 8th Lord Cathcart, a ...

and Jane Hamilton. In 1792 Murray's father succeeded to his uncle William Murray's 1792 creation of the Mansfield earldom and became 2nd Earl of Mansfield in 1793; Murray succeeded his father in 1796 as 3rd Earl of Mansfield and inheriting

Kenwood House Kenwood House (also known as the Iveagh Bequest) is a stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The present house, built in the late 17th century, was remodelled in the 18th century for William Murray, 1st E ...

in Camden,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Mary Hamilton, his mother's first cousin, visited Kenwood and described "little William had written an answer to a letter from his great uncle

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...

—the style was easy & the language perfectly good—no one would imagine this letter to have been written by a boy of 7 years old—he has very astonishing abilities of comprehension equally surprising for his age." He was educated at Westminster School; at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, Germany and at Christ Church, Oxford. He received a degree,

Doctor of Civil Law Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; ) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees. At Oxford, the degree is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of except ...

, from

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

in 1793. He joined the

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, becoming

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the East Middlesex Militia in 1798, transferring to the Royal Perth Militia on 3 May 1803.

Career

Mansfield served as

from 1803 until his death. In 1835, Mansfield was elected a Knight of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

. He was also a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(elected 1802) and a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

Kenwood House

Mansfield appointed William Atkinson to undertake essential structural reinforcement to Kenwood house between 1803 and 1839. Although the Mansfields preferred to live at their Scottish seat,

Scone Palace Scone Palace is a Category A- listed historic house near the village of Scone and the city of Perth, Scotland. Ancestral seat of Earls of Mansfield, built in red sandstone with a castellated roof, it is an example of the Gothic Revival style ...

, which had also been previously rebuilt by William Atkinson.In March 1805, Lord Mansfield gave a grand dinner at Mansfield House in Portland Place, the guests included

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 – 8 July 1850) was the tenth child and seventh son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until ...

Marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

and Marchioness of Bath, Lord Grantham, Lord Somerville, and his sister

Lady Elizabeth Finch-Hatton Lady Elizabeth Mary Finch-Hatton (''née'' Murray; 18 May 1760 – 1 June 1825) was a British aristocrat and the subject of a notable painting, once thought to be by Johann Zoffany, now attributed to David Martin (artist), David Martin. Ea ...

with her husband. When his eldest daughter Lady Frederica died in 1823, Mansfield took his greatly afflicted and depressed

son in law In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship each party in the marriage has to the family of the other party in th ...

to live at Kenwood, but he never recovered and died in 1825, the jury gave a verdict of "temporary insanity". In July 1835,

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

and

Queen Adelaide Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline; 13 August 1792 – 2 December 1849) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 26 June 1830 to 20 June 1837 as the wife of King W ...

paid a royal visit to Kenwood, this was attended by 800 of the nobility and gentry, scattered around the Kenwood garden. The Marchioness of Salisbury wrote "The King and Queen and Royalties extremely well pleased: the King trotted about with Lord M. in the most active manner".

Personal life

On 16 September 1797, Mansfield married Frederica Markham , a daughter of Sarah ( Goddard) Markham and William Markham, Archbishop of York. William Markham was a close friend of his father, the 2nd Earl of Mansfield. They had nine children: # Lady Frederica Louisa Murray (1800–1823), who married Hon. James Hamilton Stanhope in 1823 and had one son, James Stanhope. # Lady Elizabeth Anne Murray (born 1803), who died unmarried. # Lady Caroline Murray (born 1805), who died unmarried. # William David (1806–1898), who succeeded as 4th Earl of Mansfield and married Louisa, third daughter of Cutbbert Ellison, in 1829 and had issue. # Lady Georgina Catherine Murray (born 1807). # Honourable Charles John Murray (born 1810), who married Frances Elizabeth, second surviving daughter of

Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson (14 February 1767 – 31 July 1818) was a British politician and British Peerage, peer from the Anson family. Background and career Thomas Anson was born 14 February 1767, the first son of George Anson (1731� ...

in 1835. # Honourable David Henry Murray (born 1811), a Captain in the Scots Fusilier Guards. # Lady Cecilia Sarah Murray (1814–1830), who died unmarried. # Lady Emily Murray (1816–1902), married Francis Seymour, later 5th Marquess of Hertford, in 1839 and had issue. Mansfield died at Leamington on 18 February 1840 and is buried in St Andrew's Churchyard,

Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent ** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station * Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, David William Murray, 3rd Earl Of 1777 births 1840 deaths Nobility from Perth and Kinross Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Middlesex Militia officers British Militia officers 3 Knights of the Thistle Lord-lieutenants of Clackmannanshire Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Society

David William David William (24 June 1926 – 28 July 2010) was a British Canadian actor and director. He was born Bryan David Williams in London, the only child of Eric Williams and Olwen Roose. His family was London-based wine merchants. He was educated ...

Dunbar, David William Murray, 3rd Earl of