James Murray (1727 – 30 April 1799) was a landowner and politician from the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...

. He was a member of parliament (MP) from 1762 to 1774. Broughton House, Kirkcudbright, home of artist E A Hornel - geograph

Early life and family

Murray was the first-born son of Alexander Murray of Broughton and his wife Lady Euphemia Stewart, daughter of the 5th Earl of Galloway. He was educated at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, and then went on a

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tu ...

. On his father's death, Murray inherited extensive estates in Scotland and Ireland. They included Broughton House in Kirkcudbright,

Killybegs Killybegs () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the largest fishing port in the country and on the island of Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. Its Irish name ''Na Cealla ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

, and Cally House near

Gatehouse of Fleet Gatehouse of Fleet ( sco, Gatehoose o Fleet gd, Taigh an Rathaid) is a town half in the civil parish of Girthon and half in the parish of Anwoth divided by the river Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, within the district council region of Dumfries and G ...

, which Murray rebuilt to the designs of Robert Mylne. In 1726 he had married his first cousin Lady Catherine Stewart, daughter of his mother's brother the 6th Earl of Galloway. They had only one child, Alicia, who fell ill and died while on a holiday in Rome. However, Murray had already fathered an illegitimate daughter, Ann, born in 1725. Ann was raised at the Murray's Cally estate, with support of Lady Catherine. In 1762, James and Catherine Murray met the writer

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the English writer S ...

. In Boswell's words, James was a "most amiable man, hohas very good sense, great knowledge of the world, and easy politeness of manners". He described Catherine as "very beautiful and, what is more, very agreeable, being possessed of the most engaging affability".

Career

At the 1761 general election, Murray contested

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has ...

on the interest of his relatives the Earls of Galloway, but lost by a small margin to John Hamilton of Bargany. Murray lodged a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offic ...

, with the support of the

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament ...

, and a compromise was negotiated whereby Hamilton resigned and was found an alternative seat in Wigtown Burghs. At the

1768 general election The 1768 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election took plac ...

, the Earl of Stewart displaced Murray from the Wigtownshire seat in favour of his son

Keith Stewart Vice-Admiral Keith Stewart (1739 – 3 March 1795) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons on two occasions. Having began his naval career in around 1753, Stewart was promoted to commander in 1761 and ...

, who was Murray's brother-in-law and first cousin. Murray was returned instead for Kirkcudbright Stewartry, but financial difficulties after the collapse of the Ayr Bank forced him to stand down in 1774. He voted regularly in Parliament, but did not speak in any debates. From 1783 to 1784 Murray was the

Receiver General A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. See also * Treasurer * Receiver General for Canada * Rece ...

of Land Tax for Scotland. From 1765 to 1773 he had been paid the salary for the job, without, actually doing it, and in 1766 he had turned down Rockingham's offer of formally taking the post. He resigned as receiver in 1784, hoping to find another seat in Parliament, but the negotiations did not produce terms he could accept. Instead he eloped overseas with his mistress, whose child inherited his lands.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James 1727 births 1799 deaths People from the Scottish Borders Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 18th-century Scottish landowners