John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl

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The 1st Duke of Atholl.
The 1st Duke of Atholl.

John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl KT , PC (24 February 1660–14 November 1724) was a Scottish nobleman and politician.

He was born in 1660 to the 2nd Earl of Atholl and his wife, the former Lady Amelia Stanley. His maternal grandparents were the 7th Earl of Derby and the Countess of Derby.

He was styled Lord Inverary until 1676, when his father (who had also succeeded as 5th Earl of Tullibardine in 1670) was created Marquess of Atholl, from which point he was styled Earl of Tullibardine.

Lord Tullibardine was a supporter of William of Orange during the Glorious Revolution, taking the oath of loyalty in September 1689, but was unable to prevent the majority of his clan from joining Lord Dundee under the command of his brother, Ross.

He married Catherine, daughter of the Duke of Hamilton, with whom he had six daughters and seven sons; only some made it to adulthood.

In 1693 he was appointed as one of the commissioners to the inquiry into the massacre of Glencoe. In 1695, Tullibardine was made Sheriff of Perth, in 1696 he became Secretary of State, and from 1696 to 1698 was Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland. With the accession of Queen Anne in 1702, he was made a Privy Counsellor, and in 1703 became Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland. The same year he succeeded his father as 2nd Marquess of Atholl, and in June 1703 he was created Duke of Atholl, Marquess of Tullibardine, Earl of Strathtay and Strathardle, Viscount of Balquhidder, Glenalmond and Glenlyon, and Lord Murray, Balvenie and Gask.

In 1704 was made a Knight of the Thistle. In 1704 an unsuccessful attempt was made by Lord Lovat, who used the Duke of Queensberry as a tool to implicate him in a Jacobite plot against Queen Anne. The intrigue was disclosed by Robert Ferguson, and Atholl sent a memorial to the Queen on the subject, which resulted in Queensberry's downfall. But the affair had a damaging effect on Murray's career, and he was deprived of office in October 1704. He subsequently became a strong antagonist of the government, and of the Hanoverian succession. He vehemently opposed Union during the years 1705-1707, and entered into a project which would have resisted the crown by force, holding Stirling Castle with the aid of the Cameronians, however, he chose to accept "compensation" of £1000 in order to desist with these plans.

With the downfall of the Whigs and the advent of the Tories to power, Murray returned to favour and to office. He was chosen a representative peer in the House of Lords in 1710 and in 1712 was restored to his position as High Commissioner and Keeper of the Privy Seal.

With the accession of King George I he was again dismissed from office. Three of his sons joined the Jacobites in the rebellion of 1715, but Murray himself remained loyal to the Government. In June 1717 he apprehended Rob Roy MacGregor, who, however, succeeded in escaping.

Atholl died in 1724, and was succeeded by his son James, Marquess of Tullibardine.

[edit] Children

By his first wife Katherine, daughter of William Douglas, Duke of Hamilton and Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, they had the following thirteen children:

By his second wife Lady Mary Ross, daughter of William Ross, 12th Lord Ross and Lady Agnes Wilkie. They had the following eight children :


Political offices
Preceded by
The 19th Earl of Crawford		 Scottish representative peer
1710–1715		 Succeeded by
The 2nd Earl of Bute
Academic offices
Preceded by
Arthur Ross
Archbishop of St Andrews		 Chancellor of the University of St Andrews
1697–1724		 Succeeded by
The 1st Duke of Chandos
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
New creation		 Duke of Atholl
1703–1724		 Succeeded by
James Murray
Preceded by
John Murray		 Marquess of Atholl
1703–1724

[edit] See also

[edit] References