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JAMES MURRAY (c. 1719-1794)

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 40 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JAMES MURRAY (c. 1719-1794)  ,
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British governor of
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Canada, was a younger son of Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank (d . 1736) . Having entered the British army, he served with the 15th
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Foot in the West Indies, the'
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Netherlands and
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Brittany, and became
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lieutenant-colonel of this regiment by
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purchase in 1751 . In 1757 he led his men to North
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America to take
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part in the war against France . He commanded a brigade at the siege of
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Louisburg, was one of Wolfe's three brigadiers in the expedition against
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Quebec, and commanded the
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left wing of the army in the famous
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battle in September 1759 . After the British victory and the capture of the city, Murray was left in command of Quebec; having strengthened its fortifications and taken
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measures to improve the morale of his men, he defended it in
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April and May 1760 against the attacks of the French, who were soon compelled to raise the siege . The British troops had beendecimated by disease, and it was only a remnant that Murray now led to join General Amherst at
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Montreal, and to be
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present when the last batch of French troops in Canada surrendered . In
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October I 76o he was appointed governor of Quebec, and he became governor of Canada after this country had been formally ceded to
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Great Britain in 1763 . In this
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year he quelled a dangerous mutiny, and soon afterwards his alleged partiality for the interests of the French Canadians gave offence to the British settlers; they asked for his recall, and in 1766 he retired from his
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post . After an inquiry in the House of Lords, he was exonerated from the charges which had been brought against him . In 1774 Murray was sent to Minorca as governor, and in 1781, while he was in charge of this island, he was besieged in Fort St Philip by a large force of French and Spaniards . After a stubborn resistance, which lasted nearly seven months, he was obliged to surrender the place; and on his return to England he was tried by a court-martial, at the instance of
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Sir William Draper,. who had served under him in Minorca as lieutenant-governor .

He was acquitted and he became a general in 1783 . He died on the 18th of

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June 1794 . Murray's only son was James Patrick Murray (1782–1834), a major-general and member of parliament .

End of Article: JAMES MURRAY (c. 1719-1794)
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