John Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl

Lt.-Col. John George Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl KT GCVO CB DSO PC ADC (December 15 1871 – March 16 1942) was a British peer and soldier, known as the Marquess of Tullibardine from 1871 to 1917.

Early life

Lord Tullibardine was born in 1871 at Blair Castle, Perthshire, the son of John Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl and was educated at Eton College.

Career

He rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1892 in the service of the Royal Horse Guards and to Lieutenant a year later. He fought in the Battle of Khartoum, the Battle of Atbara, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) on 15 November 1898 and rose to the rank of Captain a year later. From 1899 to 1902, he fought in the Second Boer War and rose to Brevet Major in 1900.

In 1900 he was asked by Lord Kitchener to raise a Regiment of Scotsmen in South Africa, called The Scottish Horse. They were raised with such success that they would expand to a whole brigade by the end of the Second Boer War. He remained closley involved with the Regiment, taking the post of Colonel Commandant until 1920 and Honorary Colonel from then until his death in 1942.

On July 20 1899, Lord Tullibardine married Katharine Ramsay, daughter of Sir James Ramsay, 10th Baronet at St Margaret's Church, Westminster.

He was invested as a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (M.V.O.) on 14 October 1902 and gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1903. He was Grand Master of Scottish Freemasons between 1908 and 1913 and was Conservative MP for West Perthshire between 1910 and 1917. Lord Tullibardine fought in the First World War, where he gained the rank of Temporary Brigadier-General in 1918 and was invested as a Knight of the Thistle (K.T.) that year. He was also Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland between 1918 and 1920.

He was Aide-de-camp to King George V between 1920 and 1931 and was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) in 1921. He was also Lord Chamberlain between 1921 and 1922 and was later granted the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh.

Lottery

In 1932 he came to national attention when he launched a lottery in an attempt to stop money going abroad to the Irish Free State Hospitals Sweepstakes. The money his scheme raised was given to British charities, mainly hospitals, but in 1933 he was prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Edward Hale Tindal Atkinson, for running an illegal lottery. Despite this, his actions were seen by the public as being patriotic, and he was admired by many [cite news
author=
title=Ducal Dodge
date=1933-11-13
work=Time Magazine
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746295,00.html
accessdate=2008-08-10]

Death

In 1942, the Duke of Atholl died, aged 70, without issue and his titles passed to his brother, James Stewart-Murray.

References

ource

* [http://thepeerage.com/p2219.htm#i22188 The Peerage Website]