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, Conservative politician, explorer, author, and artist.

"Charlie". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1878.
Lord Dunmore, c. 1903
Lord Dunmore c. 1893, in the Pamir Mountains

Early life

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.

He was born in London on March 24, 1841; and on July 16, 1845 he succeeded his father as Earl. He received his education at Eton College.[1]

Career

He traveled to North America to observe the American Civil War with a number of other British officers. He then traveled at least as far as southern Manitoba and painted a number of watercolors across the United States and Canada.[2]

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 1883, the Canadian Pacific Railway named Dunmore, Alberta in his honour.[3]

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.[4]

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:

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.
  • The Revelation of Christianus and Other Christian Science Poems. University Press. 1901.

Notes

References


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