Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore

Charles Adolphus Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore VD (24 March 1841 – 27 August 1907), styled Viscount Fincastle from birth until 1845, was a Scottish peer and Conservative politician.

"Charlie". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1878.

Background

Fincastle was the eldest son of Alexander Murray, 6th Earl of Dunmore and his wife, Catherine.[1] His maternal grandmother was the Russian noblewoman Countess Catherine Woronzoff (or Vorontsova), daughter of the Russian ambassador to St James's, Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov.

Career

In 1874, he was appointed a Lord-in-waiting in Disraeli's government, a post he held until 1880. In 1875, he was made Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire, which he remained until 1885. In 1882 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st Inverness-shire Rifle Volunteers (later the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders). He retired in 1896. In 1892–93 he traveled through the eastern Pamirs to Kashgar. He was engaged in some form of diplomacy or espionage but the matter is not clear.[2]

Family

Lord Dunmore married Lady Gertrude Coke, third daughter of Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, on 5 April 1866.[1] They had six children:

• Alexander Edward, styled Viscount Fincastle, later 8th Earl of Dunmore (1871–1962)
• Lady Evelyn Cobbold (1867–1963), married John Dupuis Cobbold.
• Lady Muriel (d. 1946), married Harold Gore Browne.
• Lady Grace (1873–1960), married William James Barry, Esq.
• Lady Victoria Alexandrina (1877–1925)
• Lady Mildred (1878–1969), married (1) Gilbert Follet, (2) Sir John FitzGerald, 3rd Baronet.

Works

• The Pamirs: Being a Narrative of a Year's Expedition on Horseback and on Foot Through Kashmir, Western Tibet, Chinese Tartary, and Russian Central Asia. J. Murray. 1894.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• The Revelation of Christianus and Other Christian Science Poems. University Press. 1901.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Notes

1. Fryer 1912.
2. Middleton, Thomas & Whitlock 2011, p. 476.

References

• Fryer, Sydney Ernest (1912). "Murray, Charles Adolphus" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• S. E. Fryer, rev. Elizabeth Baigent. "Murray, Charles Adolphus, seventh earl of Dunmore (1841–1907)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35156. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Middleton, Robert; Thomas, Huw; Whitlock, Monica (2011). Tajikistan and the High Pamirs: A Companion and Guide. Odyssey Publications. ISBN 978-962-217-818-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Works by or about Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore at Internet Archive
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Dunmore

Political offices
Preceded by The Earl of Breadalbane and Holland	Lord-in-waiting 1874–1880	Succeeded by The Earl of Zetland
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Duke of Montrose	Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire 1875–1885	Succeeded by The Duke of Montrose
Military offices
Preceded by Vacant (prev. The Duke of Clarence)	Colonel of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders 1896–1908	Succeeded by Sir John Ewart
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Alexander Murray	Earl of Dunmore 1845–1907	Succeeded by Alexander Murray