James Murray^[1]

1721 - 1794  (73 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and 6 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	James Murray
  Birth	21 Jan 1721	Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Scotland
  Gender	Male
  Death	18 Jun 1794	East Sussex
  Siblings	12 Siblings
  1. Elizabeth Murray,   b. 26 Aug 1701   d. 19 Mar 1748  (Age 46 years) + 2. Patrick Murray,   b. 25 Feb 1702   d. 3 Aug 1778, Aberlady  (Age 76 years) ▻ Maria Magdalena de Jonge van Ellemeet,  m. Abt 1735   3. Alexander Murray,   b. 23 Jul 1704 + 4. Rear Admiral George Murray,   b. 14 May 1706   d. 11 Nov 1785, Ballencrieff  (Age 79 years) ▻ Isabella MacKenzie,  m. 8 Jan 1760 + 5. Gideon Murray,   b. 5 Feb 1710   d. 21 Jun 1776  (Age 66 years) ▻ Elizabeth Montolieu,  m. 30 Jun 1746 + 6. Barbara Murray   d. 15 Mar 1773 ▻ James Johnstone,  m. Jun 1719   7. John Murray,   b. 14 Sep 1711   8. Alexander Murray,   b. 9 Dec 1712   d. 27.02.1777  (Age 64 years)   9. Helen Murray,   b. 19.01.1716   d. 28.12.1809  (Age 93 years)   10. Mary Murray,   b. 4 Sep 1714   d. 18 Jun 1772  (Age 57 years) + 11. Anne Murray   d. 2 Jan 1793 ▻ James Ferguson,  m. 5 Feb 1733   12. Janet Murray   d. 9 Aug 1759 + 13. James Murray,   b. 21 Jan 1721, Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Scotland d. 18 Jun 1794, East Sussex  (Age 73 years) ▻ Cordelia Collier,  m. Dec 1748 ;   Ann Witham,  m. 1780
  Person ID	I267313	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	8 Sep 2010

  
  

  Father	Alexander Murray,   b. 9 Mar 1677, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland d. 6 Feb 1736 (Age 58 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Stirling   d. 11 Nov 1756
  Marriage	24 Feb 1698
  Family ID	F61666	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Cordelia Collier
  Marriage	Dec 1748
  Family ID	F348136	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	8 Sep 2010

  
  

  Family 2	Ann Witham
  Marriage	1780
  Children	1. Maj. General James Patrick Murray   2. Cordelia Murray   3. Wilhelmina Murray   d. Yes, date unknown   4. George Murray   5. Elizabeth Mary Murray   6. Anne Harriet Murray
  Family ID	F108145	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	8 Sep 2010

  
  

• Notes

  Educated in Haddington and Selkirk, he began his military career in 1736 in the 3rd Scots Regiment in the Dutch service. In 1740 he served as Second-Lieutenant in Wynyard's Marines, under his brother Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank, in the unsuccessful attack on Cartagena. He returned as Captain in 1742. He served as Captain of the grenadier company of the 15th Regiment of Foot during the War of the Austrian Succession, being severely wounded during the Siege of Ostend in 1745, and distinguishing himself in the Raid on Lorient in 1746. James Murray purchased his majority in the 15th Regiment of Foot in 1749, and the lieutenant-colonelcy in 1751. He commanded his regiment for the Raid on Rochefort, 1757, defending Sir John Mordaunt in his subsequent court-martial. He commanded a battalion in the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg. When Louisbourg was taken, Murray accompanied General Wolfe on a raiding expedition northwards along the west coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. While Wolfe destroyed French settlements along the Gaspe Peninsula, Murray harried the French fishing settlements along Miramichi Bay. Among the destruction were the homes and Church at St. Anne's, now called Burnt Church. Murray served under General James Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. He was the military commander of Quebec City after it fell to the British. Lévis managed to defeat Murray and the British in the Battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760, but he had to abandon the siege of Quebec due to a lack of supplies and the arrival of a British relief fleet. He encouraged his favourite nephew Patrick Ferguson to follow him in a military career. He also assisted another nephew, Patrick Murray, illegitimate son of his brother George. In October 1760, he became military governor of the district of Quebec and became the first civil governor of the Province of Quebec in 1764. As governor he was sympathetic to the French-Canadians, favouring them over British merchants who came to settle in the wake of the conquest and allowed the continuance of French civil law. The dissatisfaction of British settlers led to his recall in 1766 (though he remained governor in name until 1768) but his precedents were preserved in the Quebec Act. Murray successfully argued for the Quebec Act to continue slavery in Quebec as it had existed under the French; an advertisement appeared in the Quebec Gazette in 1769 for a "negro woman, aged 25 years, with a mulatto male child... formerly the property of General Murray". Murray was lieutenant-governor and then governor of Minorca from 1774 to 1782. In 1780, he married, as his second wife, Ann Witham, daughter of the Consul-General there. During the American War of Independence, he defended Fort St. Philip, at Port Mahon, against a Franco-Spanish siege for seven months (1781?82), until forced to surrender. He was known as 'Old Minorca' Murray as a result. He then returned to his home, Beauport Park, in Hollington, Sussex, where he died. Further honours came to him in his last years: he was appointed General, and Governor of Kingston upon Hull in 1783, and Colonel, of the 21st Regiment in 1789. He and his wife brought up his older brother Patrick, Lord Elibank's illegitimate daughter Maria Murray.

  
  

• Sources

  [S190] Peter Barns-Graham, British Pedigrees, (Stirnet), Murray of Elibank, Murray of Langhermiston, Murray of Ravilly (Reliability: 2).