John Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl

John James Hugh Henry Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl, KT (6 August 1840 – 20 January 1917), styled Marquess of Tullibardine between 1846 and 1864, was a Scottish peer.

His Grace The Duke of Atholl KT
The Duke of Atholl.
Lord-Lieutenant of Perthshire
In office 1878–1917
Monarch	Victoria Edward VII George V
Preceded by	The Lord Kinnaird
Succeeded by	The Duke of Atholl
Personal details
Born	6 August 1840
Died	20 January 1917 (aged 76) Blair Castle, Perthshire, Scotland
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Louisa Moncreiffe ​ ​ (m. 1863; died 1902)​
Children	7, including Dorothea, Evelyn, John, and James
Parents	George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl Anne Home-Drummond

Background and education

Atholl was the only child of George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl, and Anne, daughter of Henry Home-Drummond. He was educated at Eton.[1]

Career

Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1879.

Atholl served in the Scots Fusilier Guards, achieving the rank of captain in 1864. The latter year he also succeeded his father in the dukedom. In 1865 he registered the additional surname of Stewart at the Lyon Court. From 1878 to 1917 he served as Lord-Lieutenant of Perthshire. He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1868 and was Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle from 1913 until his death.[1] He is also remembered for having devoted years of his life to editing the records of the family and the related history.[2]

Family

A few months before he succeeded his father, Lord Tullibardine married in 1863 Louisa Moncreiffe (11 June 1844 – 8 July 1902), daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe of that Ilk, 7th Baronet. She took great interest in the Scottish Horse, a military regiment raised by her son Lord Tullibardine for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902), and one of her latest public events was to assist in the equipment of a reinforcement company for the regiment in early 1902.[3] The Duchess of Atholl died in Italy on 9 July 1902, aged 58.[3]

The Duke of Atholl remained a widower until his death at Blair Castle in January 1917, aged 76.

The couple had four sons (of whom the eldest died in infancy) and three daughters (all of whom survived to adulthood), including the Scottish folklorist Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray,[4] and the collector of early Scottish music, Lady Dorothea Ruggles-Brise. After his death, the dukedom passed to his second but eldest surviving son, John Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl,[1] and later to his third son, Major James Stewart-Murray, 9th Duke of Atholl also known as James Murray. The 7th Duke has no known surviving descendants.

Arms of the Dukes of Atholl

Children

• Lady Dorothea Louisa Stewart-Murray b. 1866; married Major Harold Goodeve Ruggles-Brise
• Lady Helen Stewart-Murray b. 1867;
• Lady Evelyn Stewart-Murray (1868–1940)
• John Stewart-Murray (1869–1869), Marquess of Tullibardine – died in infancy
• John George Stewart-Murray (1871–1942), Marquess of Tullibardine later 8th Duke of Atholl;
• Major Lord George Stewart-Murray (1873–1914)
• Lord James Thomas Stewart-Murray (1879–1957), later 9th Duke of Atholl

References

1. thepeerage.com Sir John James Hugh Henry Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl
2. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne. Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. "Obituary - the Duchess of Atholl". The Times (36816). London. 10 July 1902. p. 10.
4. Anderson, Jane (2004). "Murray, Lady Evelyn Stewart (1868–1940)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 15 May 2014.(subscription required)

External links

• Works by or about John Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl at Internet Archive
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Atholl