Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore

Scottish nobleman and politician

Charles Adolphus Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore VD DL (24 March 1841 – 27 August 1907), styled Viscount Fincastle from birth until 1845, was a Scottish peer, Conservative politician, explorer, author, and artist.

Early life

He was born in London on 24 March 1841.^[1] He was the only son of Alexander Murray, 6th Earl of Dunmore and his wife, Lady Catherine Herbert.^[2] His three sisters were Lady Susan Murray (wife of the 9th Earl of Southesk),^[3] Lady Constance Murray (wife of the 15th Lord Elphinstone),^[4] and Lady Victoria Murray (wife of Rev. Henry Cunliffe).^[3]

His paternal grandparents were George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore and Lady Susan Hamilton (a daughter of the 9th Duke of Hamilton). His maternal grandparents were Gen. George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke, and the Russian noblewoman Countess Catherine Woronzoff (or Vorontsova), daughter of the Russian ambassador to St James's, Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov.^[5]

On 16 July 1845, four year old Charles succeeded his father as Earl of Dunmore. He received his education at Eton College.^[1]

Career

Lord Dunmore c. 1893, in the Pamir Mountains

"Charlie". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1878.

He traveled to North America to observe the American Civil War with a number of other British officers. He then traveled at least as far as southern Manitoba and painted a number of watercolors across the United States and Canada.^[6]

In 1874, he was appointed a Lord-in-waiting in Disraeli's government, a post he held until 1880.^[3]

In 1875, he was made Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire, which he remained until 1885. He also served as Deputy Lieutenant of Inverness-shire. In 1882 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Inverness-shire Rifle Volunteers (later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders). He retired in 1896.^[3]

In 1883, the Canadian Pacific Railway named Dunmore, Alberta in his honour.^[7]

In 1892 to 1893, Lord Dunmore traveled through the eastern Pamirs to Kashgar. He was engaged in some form of diplomacy or espionage but the matter is not clear.^[8]

Personal life

On 5 April 1866, Lord Dunmore married Lady Gertrude Coke, third daughter of Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester,^[9] and Juliana Whitbread (a daughter of Samuel Charles Whitbread).^[1] Together, they had six children:^[3]

• Alexander Edward Murray, 8th Earl of Dunmore (1871–1962),^[10] who married Lucinda Dorothea Kemble, daughter of Col. Horace William Kemble, in 1904.^[3]
• Lady Evelyn Murray (1867–1963), who married John Dupuis Cobbold, son of John Patteson Cobbold (MP for Ipswich), in 1891.^[3]
• Lady Muriel Murray (d. 1946), who married Harold Gore Browne, son of Col. Sir Thomas Gore Browne, in 1890.^[3]
• Lady Grace Murray (1873–1960), who married William James Barry, Esq. son of Sir Francis Barry, 1st Baronet, in 1896.^[3]
• Lady Victoria Alexandrina Murray (1877–1925), who died unmarried.^[3]
• Lady Mildred Murray (1878–1969), who married Brig.-Gen. Gilbert Burrell Spencer Follett in 1904. After his death in 1918, she married Sir John FitzGerald, 3rd Baronet, in 1919.^[3]

Lord Dunmore died at his house near Camberley on 27 August 1907,^[11] and was succeeded in his titles by his only son, Alexander.^[3]

Works

• The Pamirs: Being a Narrative of a Year's Expedition on Horseback and on Foot Through Kashmir, Western Tibet, Chinese Tartary, and Russian Central Asia. J. Murray. 1894.
• The Revelation of Christianus and Other Christian Science Poems. University Press. 1901.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Notes

1. Fryer 1912.
2. "Catherine (née Herbert), Countess of Dunmore (1814-1886), Promoter of the Harris tweed industry; wife of 6th Earl of Dunmore; daughter of 11th Earl of Pembroke". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
3. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, pp. 1230–1232.
4. "Constance Euphemia Woronzow (née Murray), Lady Elphinstone (1838-1922), Wife of 15th Baron Elphinstone; daughter of 6th Earl of Dunmore". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
5. Debrett, John (1840). Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. revised, corrected and continued by G.W. Collen. p. 263. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
6. Rees 1984, pp. 6, 7.
7. Sanders 2003, p. 121.
8. Middleton, Thomas & Whitlock 2011, p. 476.
9. "EARL OF LEICESTER DEAD.; Patriarch of British Peerage Was 87 Years Old". The New York Times. 25 January 1909. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
10. "EARL OF DUNMORE, BRITISH HERO, 90; Recipient of Victoria Cross in 1897 in India Dies". The New York Times. 30 January 1962. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
11. Special Cable to The New York Times (28 August 1907). "EARL OF DUNMORE DEAD.; Prominent Christian Scientist Expires Suddenly -- Inquest to be Held". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2024.

References

• Fryer, Sydney Ernest (1912). "Murray, Charles Adolphus" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• S. E. Fryer, rev. Elizabeth Baigent. "Murray, Charles Adolphus, seventh earl of Dunmore (1841–1907)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35156. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Middleton, Robert; Thomas, Huw; Whitlock, Monica (2011). Tajikistan and the High Pamirs: A Companion and Guide. Odyssey Publications. ISBN 978-962-217-818-2.
• Rees, Ronald (1984). Land of earth and sky : landscape painting of Western Canada. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books.
• Sanders, Harry Max (2003). The story behind Alberta names. Calgary: Red Deer Press. ISBN 978-0-88995-256-0.

External links

• Works by or about Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore at the Internet Archive
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Dunmore
• Longyear Museum (Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore) connection with Christian Science