Lieutenant-General James Murray, 1st Baron Glenlyon KCH FRS (29 May 1782 – 12 October 1837), styled as Lord James Murray until 1821, was a Scottish-born British Army officer, Member of Parliament and peer.
Murray was born in 1782 at Dunkeld, Perthshire, the second son and fifth child of John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl and his wife, the Hon. Jane Cathcart. He was first commissioned into the British Army in 1798 and rose to the rank of Major-General by 1819. In 1807, he was elected Member of Parliament for Perthshire, holding the seat until 1812. He served as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber from 1812 to 1832 and from 1813 to 1819 was also aide-de-camp to the Prince Regent. He was created Baron Glenlyon, of Glenlyon, Perthshire, on 17 July 1821, and was promoted Lieutenant-General in 1837.
He also managed family affairs on behalf of his older brother John Murray, 5th Duke of Atholl, who had been declared insane at age 20. [1]
According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Glenlyon was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £1.8 billion in 2024 [2] ) with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore which was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015). Glenlyon was associated with "T71/892 St Vincent nos. 492A & B; 497A & B; 498A & B", he owned 610 slaves at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and received a £15,765 payment at the time (worth £1.89 million in 2024 [2] ). [3]
Lord Glenlyon died at Fenton's Hotel, St James's Street, London, on 12 October 1837, aged fifty-five, and was buried on 30 October at Dunkeld. He died intestate.
On 19 May 1810, Murray married Lady Emily Frances Percy (7 January 1789 – 21 June 1844), a daughter of General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland, and his wife, Frances Julia Burrell, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Covent Garden, London. They had six children: [4]
Glenlyon died in 1837. His father died in September 1846 and was succeeded by Glenlyon's eldest surviving son, George, as Duke of Atholl. Two months later, the new duke's surviving siblings were raised to the rank and precedency of duke's children. [4]
Duke of Atholl, named after Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of his father, the 1st Marquess.
Baron Strange is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. Two creations, one in 1295 and another in 1326, had only one holder each, upon whose deaths they became extinct. Two of the creations, that of 1299 and that of 1628, are extant. The surname Le Strange was Latinized as Extraneus. The arms of Le Strange of Knockin Castle in Shropshire were: Gules, two lions passant argent.
Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood DL, known as Viscount Lascelles from 1814 to 1820, was a British peer, Tory politician, planter and art collector.
Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl VA, born Anne Home-Drummond and known as The Lady Glenlyon between 1839 and 1846, as The Duchess of Atholl between 1846 and 1864 and as The Dowager Duchess of Atholl between 1864 and 1897, was a Scottish courtier and close friend of Queen Victoria.
John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, KT 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 2nd Earl of Atholl on his father's demise in June 1642 and as 3rd Earl of Tullibardine after the death of his first cousin the 2nd Earl in 1670.
John James Hugh Henry Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl, KT, styled Marquess of Tullibardine between 1846 and 1864, was a Scottish peer.
James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl,, styled Marquess of Tullibardine between 1715 and 1746, was the Lord of Mann, a Scottish peer, and Lord Privy Seal.
John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, KT, PC, known as John Murray until 1764, was a Scottish peer and Tory politician.
John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl, KT, PC, FRS, styled Marquess of Tullibardine from 1764 to 1774, was a Scottish peer.
George Augustus Frederick John Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl, was a Scottish peer, important landowner, and freemason.
John Murray, 5th Duke of Atholl was a duke in the Peerage of Scotland, a British Army officer and a major landowner in Scotland. Declared insane at the age of twenty, he never sat in the House of Lords.
William Beresford, 1st Baron Decies was an Anglo-Irish clergyman.
John Mulholland, 1st Baron Dunleath was an Irish businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament.
Charles Marsham, 2nd Earl of Romney, styled Viscount Marsham between 1801 and 1811, was a British peer and politician.
Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas, was a Scottish politician.
William Murray, 2nd Lord Nairne was a Scottish peer and Jacobite who fought in the Rising of 1715, after which he was attainted and condemned to death for treason, but in 1717 he was indemnified and released.
Frances Julia Percy, Duchess of Northumberland was the second wife of Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland, and the mother of the 3rd and 4th Dukes.
Major-General Alexander Murray Macgregor, born Alexander Murray, was a Scottish army officer in the British East India Company.
Colin Drummond was a Scottish merchant and politician who lived in Quebec, Canada.
John Drummond, 12th of Lennoch, 5th of Megginch, was a Scottish politician who served as MP for Shaftesbury.