George Murray (British Army officer)

Sir George Murray, GCB, GCH, FRS (February 6 1772, Perth – July 28 1846) was a Scottish soldier and politician, the second son of Sir William Murray of Ochtertyre, 5th Baronet.

Born in Perth, Murray was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. In 1789, he obtained a commission into the 71st Foot, reaching the rank of Captain in 1794, and seeing service in Flanders (1794–95), the West Indies, England and Ireland. In 1799 he was made a Lieutenant-Colonel, entering the Quartermaster General's Department and making his considerable reputation as Quartermaster General (1808–11) during the Peninsular War, under the Duke of Wellington, and receiving promotion to Colonel in 1809.

After a brief period as Quartermaster General in Ireland, Murray returned to the Peninsular Campaign as Major-General (1813-14), and was invested with the Order of the Bath in 1813. He was briefly in Canada from December 1814 to May 1815 where he was appointed provisional Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada and reviewed the defences of Canada. He quickly returned to Europe following Napoleon's escape from Elba, but arrived too late to take part in the Battle of Waterloo.

After cessation of hostilities, Murray was based in France as Chief of Staff to the Army of Occupation and, thereafter, he was appointed Governor of the Royal Military College (1819). He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Oxford in 1820 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1824. In 1825 he married Lady Louisa Erskine, widow of Sir James Erskine of Torrie (1772–1825). Subsequently he was made Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, but in 1828 he resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in Ireland and became Colonial Secretary.

He was the Master-General of the Ordnance between 1834 to 1835 and between 1841 and 1846.

The Murray River and Mount Murray in Australia and Murray House in Hong Kong are named in honour of him. He was Member of Parliament for Perthshire in Scotland, and the city of Perth, Western Australia is also (indirectly) named in his honour, as it was his birthplace.

He was a Tory and later Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Pethshire from 1824–1832 and from 1834 until he retired in 1835. He also contested Westminster in 1837 and Manchester in both 1839 and 1841, without success. Murray was also President of the Royal Geographical Society (1833–5) and Governor of Edinburgh Castle.

His substantial papers and maps were gifted to the National Library of Scotland by a great-niece in 1913. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

References

* "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885", edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)

External links

* [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/men/murray_george.htm Sir George Murray] at electricscotland.com
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3575 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]