My Name is Earl (of Dunmore)

Hey everyone! I must admit that filling out spreadsheets has been a bit slow lately. My other schoolwork has finally caught up to me, but fear not! I will always have a new and exciting biography for you every week, and I will always get it in by Sunday night...most likely by midnight.


Anyway, I have actually already finished inputting the information from most of the houses I've received. I'm still working on a few, one of which is the Household of Mary, Duchess of York. Tonight, I will be telling you all about someone who was a part of her house, a man named Lord Charles Murray, first Earl of Dunmore.

Charles Murray was born  on February 28, 1661, the second son of twelve from John Murray, first marquess of Atholl and his wife Lady Amelia Sophia Stanley. Charles was supposedly the most Anglicized son of the family, closest to his mother's relatives. He sought a commission from William of Orange in 1680 and was appointed in 1681 as lieutenant-colonel of the new Scots Greys dragoons. He became the Scots Greys' colonel on November 6, 1685 after having served in western Scotland during Argyll's rebellion. On December 6, 1682 he married a woman named Catherine in London, daughter of Richard Watts of Great Munden, Hertfordshire. On July 28, 1683 James, Duke of York appointed Murray master of the horse to Princess Anne, who was already his friend. In January of 1685 he was appointed master of the horse to Duchess Mary, though he was re-appointed soon after she became queen. In the 1685 English parliament he was MP and court candidate. The year before, encouraged by James, the marquess decided to transfer the inheritance of his main highland estate in Atholl (in Scotland) from his oldest son, John, Lord Murray, considered insufficiently loyal, to Lord Charles. This transfer of land allowed James to create Charles as the Scottish Earl of Dunmore on August 6, 1686, though this claim was later renounced.

In 1688, Lord Charles led the Scots Greys in a campaign against William of Orange. However after James was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution, he lost the regiment and his court post. Returning to Edinburgh, Scotland on March 20 1689, he influenced his wavering father towards Jacobitism, a political and military movement which sought to restore King James to the throne, and also encouraged plotting from the Scots Greys. Suspected of being involved in a highland revolt, he was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle from June 1689 to January 1690. Once he was bailed, he returned to England for a decade. In 1691 he introduced his father among London plotters, but while he was corresponding with James II through his fiercely Jacobite wife, he declared he was waiting on events to make a move. During the 1692 invasion attempt he was one of a London group who planned a rising in support. Unfortunately, he was captured in hiding on May 16 of that year and committed to the Tower of London. After being bailed in August, no further Jacobite activity by Dunmore is known. As someone who is largely interested in Jacobitism myself, you can imagine my disappointment learning that fact. Since Dunmore suffered from the stone, which I can only assume means kidney stones, he retreated to live with his family. He was arrested at Lathom House in March 1696 and kept in Liverpool until July. Afterwards he settled in Chester.


Once James II died, Dunmore's loyalties changed. He had nine children to take care of and only earned 500 to 600 pounds a year in England and the Netherlands. He eventually returned to Scotland while his brother held office in Atholl. He hoped to receive a position through his brother and on February 4, 1703 he was sworn of the privy council and took a seat in Scottish Parliament. He was one of the semi-Jacobite cavalier party but joined the court side after the Lord Commissioner of Queensberry broke with them. He defended his brother against Queensberry's "Scotch plot" allegations during this time as well. In 1704, Dunmore was appointed to a committee of parliament for examining public accounts. He attempted to bribe his brother to stay away from the union debates, yet his brother still attended. Dunmore voted for the union and the court related policies. In 1707 he was appointed governor of Blackness Castle. Dunmore had three sons enter the army around this time. The oldest son died while serving in 1704 and afterwards, Dunmore and his wife solicited the Marlboroughs so their other sons could be advanced to higher ranks.


Dunmore died in Holyrood Palace on April 19, 1710. His wife died just a few months later. The two sons who succeeded him can be seen as a symbol for Dumore's divided life of politics. John Murray, second earl, fought for the English while Dunmore's fifth son, William, joined the Jacobite rising of 1745 and was convicted of treason after the rising failed.


I find that Dunmore's life leaves me with many questions! That doesn't surprise me since I actually love to study Jacobites and the rising of 1745. The fact that Dunmore was a Jacobite at one point already interests me a lot. Yet, his life leaves me curious. Why was Dunmore a Jacobite in the first place? Was he close with James II? Did his time in Scotland make him more apt to join in on the Jacobite cause? Yet, why did his loyalties suddenly vanish? I can only guess Dunmore's loyalties really lay with James II more so than the other Jacobite principles. Once James II was out of the picture, Dunmore didn't care to participate in Jacobite conspiracies surrounding James' son who strove to carry on his father's legacy. I can only wonder, if Dunmore had lived till the 1715 uprising, which side would he have chosen?


Historians should always ask why. Though the answers may look obvious sometimes, that is not always the case. It is important to weigh what we know with what we don't know, and then even ask, why don't we know certain things? Were there no records of certain events or of people's opinions? Noticing patterns and trying to make sense of these patterns is always an important part of history. I found tracing Dunmore's life to be quite interesting, for I wonder if his case was that of many English noblemen during the time. Did loyalties frequently change during this time? If they did, for what reasons? These are just a few of the many questions Dunmore's life has inspired me to ask. Though I could never answer all of them, I'm sure my curiosity will lead me to even more interesting stories along the way.