MURRAY, Alexander (1747-1820), of Blackbarony, Peebles.

Gideon Murray was a Church of England clergyman and had little connexion with Scotland; his sons Alexander and David were brought up in England. As a young ensign in the Guards called out during the Wilkes riots of 10 May 1768, Alexander was arrested with two of his men, charged with the murder of William Allen, a rioter. Admitted to bail, he was subsequently acquitted by the grand jury of Surrey at Guildford after a spectacular trial.A. C. Murray, Murrays of Elibank, 122-8; Cavendish’s Debates, i. 307-36. His advancement in the army was slow, and after succeeding to the Blackbarony estates he resigned his commission.

When Alexander Murray of Murrayfield was raised to the Scottish bench, Murray of Blackbarony was returned unopposed in his place. There is no record of his having spoken in the House nor did he vote on Fox’s East India bill, 27 Nov. 1783. When in December 1783 Robinson was compiling his parliamentary lists, he could not even remember Murray’s name:Laprade, 103.‘It is not recollected nor by the calendar does it appear, who came in, in the room of Mr. Murray.’ Murray appears in Stockdale’s list of 19 Mar. 1784 as a supporter of Pitt. Expecting to succeed shortly to the Elibank peerage, he stood down in 1784 in favour of his brother David.

He died 24 Sept. 1820.