David Murray (10 May 1748 – 7 May 1794) was an English lawyer of Scottish noble descent. He sat in the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the Pa ...

from 1784 until his death.

Early life and family

Murray was the second son of Rev the Hon. Gideon Murray, a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman. Gideon was the third surviving son of Alexander Murray, the 4th Lord Elibank, but he had little connexion with Scotland, and raised his family in England. David Murray was educated at Beverley School, and then at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

and

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, where he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1773. In 1783 he married Elizabeth Harley, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Harley, a younger son of the 3rd Earl of Oxford. They had three daughters – Elizabeth, Maria-Clara, Louisa – and one son, David Rodney. Elizabeth married the Royal Navy officer William Henry Shirreff.

Parliament

Murray had an electoral interest in

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a Counties of Scotland, historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire ...

, where his older brother

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

had been returned at a by-election in 1783, with the support of the dominant interests of the

Duke of Queensberry The title Duke of Queensberry was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 3 February 1684 along with the subsidiary title Marquess of Dumfriesshire for the William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, 1st Marquess of Queensberry. The Dukedom was he ...

and James Montgomery. Alexander stood down at the 1784 general election in expectation of succeeding his uncle

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to become the 7th Lord Elibank, and David was elected unopposed in his place. At the next general election, in 1790, Montgomery installed his oldest son William Montgomery, who had come of age. Murray sought a new seat, and was returned for the New Radnor boroughs in Wales with the help of the 4th Earl of Oxford, his father-in-law's older brother. He held the seat until his death in London on 7 May 1794, three days before his 46th birthday.

References

1748 births 1794 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 People educated at Beverley Grammar School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn English people of Scottish descent {{Wales-GreatBritain-MP-stub