Earl of Dunmore is a title in the

Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland (; ) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union 1707, Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the ...

. The title Earl of Dunmore was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, son of

John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, KT (2 May 16316 May 1703) was a leading Scottish royalist and defender of the Stuarts during the English Civil War of the 1640s, until after the rise to power of William and Mary in 1689. He succeeded as 2n ...

. The title passed down through generations, with various earls serving in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as Scottish

Representative Peers In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those Peerage, peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the ...

and holding other political positions. The 4th Earl was a colonial governor in New York, Virginia, and the Bahamas, while the 5th Earl bought the Estate of Harris in 1834. The 7th Earl served under

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

and was the Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire. The 8th Earl received the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

and held political office as

Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. The barony of Dunmore became extinct after the 9th Earl's death in 1980, but the other titles passed to his distant relatives in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The family seat was located at

Amhuinnsuidhe Castle Amhuinnsuidhe Castle is a large 19th-century private country house on Harris, one of the Western Isles of Scotland. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971 and is now operated as a hotel and shooting estate. History Original ...

on the

Isle of Harris Harris (, ) is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to in opposition to the ''Isle of Lewis'' as the Isle of Harr ...

and Dunmore Tower near

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

History

The title was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, second son of

. He was made Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin and Tillimet (or Tullimet) and Viscount of Fincastle at the same time, also in the

. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He was a General in the Army and sat in the

as a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

from 1713 to 1715 and from 1727 to 1752. His younger brother, William Murray, later to become the third Earl, was involved in the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

and was tried for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

in 1746. Murray pleaded guilty but received a pardon from King George II and succeeded to the peerages when his brother died unmarried six years later. The third Earl was succeeded by his son. The fourth Earl was a Scottish Representative Peer in the House of Lords from 1761 to 1774 and from 1776 to 1790 and served as

colonial governor of New York The territory which would later become the state of New York was settled by European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony (parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware) under the command of the Dutch West India C ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. His tenure as governor of the New York and Virginia colonies was to end with the start of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Lord Dunmore's eldest son, the fifth Earl, briefly represented

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

in 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 ...

. In 1831 he was created Baron Dunmore, of Dunmore in the Forest of Athole in the County of Perth, in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, which gave him and his descendants a permanent seat in the House of Lords. George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore, bought the Estate of Harris from Alexander Norman Macleod for £60,000 in 1834. In 1839, the people of South Harris were ejected from their homes by armed soldiers and a posse of Glasgow policemen acting on orders from the government, at the behest of the Earl of Dunmore. The 6th Earl of Dunmore, Alexander Edward Murray, had inherited Harris upon the death of his father on 11 November 1836 and would in turn be succeeded by his son, Charles Adolphus, following the 6th Earl's death on 14 July 1845. Thus the 6th Earl was about halfway through his proprietorship of the island when he was providing a pound per person for those electing to leave. The seventh Earl of Dunmore served as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip in the House of Lords) in the second Conservative administration of

and was also Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire. The 7th Earl relinquished ownership of the North Harris Estate to his bankers, in particular the Scott family. He was succeeded by his son, the eighth Earl. He was a soldier and was awarded the

in 1897. Lord Dunmore later held political office as

(government chief whip in the House of Lords). On the death in 1980 of his grandson, the ninth Earl, the line of the fifth Earl failed and the barony of Dunmore became extinct. The late Earl was succeeded by his distant relative (his fourth cousin once removed), the tenth Earl. He was the great-great-grandson of the Hon. Alexander Murray, second son of the fourth Earl, and lived in

, Australia. the titles are held by his nephew, the twelfth Earl, who succeeded his father in 1995. He also lives in Tasmania, Australia and is a well respected

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. As a male-line descendant of the first

Marquess of Atholl 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 widow) ...

he is also in remainder to this peerage and its subsidiary titles and by special remainder to the Dukedom, which are now held by his kinsman Bruce Murray, 12th Duke of Atholl. The family seat was

, on the

and Dunmore Tower, near

Airth Airth () is a Royal Burgh, village, former trading port and civil parish in Falkirk, Scotland. It is north of Falkirk town and sits on the banks of the River Forth. Airth lies on the A905 road between Grangemouth and Stirling and is overlooked ...

Earls of Dunmore (1686)

Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

(1661–1710) #

John Murray, 2nd Earl of Dunmore {{Infobox noble , name = John Murray , title = , image = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = Earl of Dunmore , reign ...

(1685–1752) # William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore (1696–1756) #

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – 25 February 1809) was a British colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of Virginia, governor of Virginia from 1771 to 1775. Dunmore was named List of colonial governors of ...

(1730–1809) #

George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore FRSE (30 April 1762 – 11 November 1836), known as Viscount of Fincastle until 1809, was a Scottish peer. Early life Murray was the eldest son of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, and Lady Charlotte (née S ...

(1762–1836) # Alexander Edward Murray, 6th Earl of Dunmore (1804–1845) # Charles Adolphus Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (1841–1907) # Alexander Edward Murray, 8th Earl of Dunmore (1871–1962) # John Alexander Murray, 9th Earl of Dunmore (1939–1980) # Reginald Arthur Murray, 10th Earl of Dunmore (1911–1981) # Kenneth Randolph Murray, 11th Earl of Dunmore (1913–1995) # Malcolm Kenneth Murray, 12th Earl of Dunmore (b. 1946) The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

is the present holder's brother Hon. Geoffrey Charles Murray (b. 1949).
The heir presumptive's heir presumptive is his first cousin Stephen Alexander Murray (b. 1953).
The heir presumptive's heir presumptive's

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

is his son, Anthony Victor Murray (b. 1989).

Family tree

References

Citations

Sources

* * Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York:

St Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

, 1990., * Donald J MacLeod, Woodcroft Avenue, Bridge of Don in ''

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 ...

'', Edinburgh 21 April 2011 * The Caledonian Mercury, 2 September 1841 *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunmore Earldoms in the Peerage of Scotland Noble titles created in 1686 Clan Murray