William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine

William Murray was born on 14 April 1689, at Huntingtower near Perth, second son of John Murray, Duke of Atholl (1660–1724) and his first wife, Katherine Hamilton (1662–1707). When his elder brother John was killed at Malplaquet in August 1709, he became Marquess of Tullibardine and heir to the dukedom but was attainted for his part in the 1715 Rising. His younger brother succeeded as 2nd Duke of Atholl in 1724.

The battlefield of Sheriffmuir; the Jacobite left under Tullibardine was positioned on the flat ground below

After a short spell at the University of St Andrews, he joined the Royal Navy in 1707, apparently against Atholl's wishes.[1] He served under Byng during the War of the Spanish Succession but following appeals from his father he returned in 1712 and went to live in London. The same year Atholl unsuccessfully attempted to arrange his marriage to Elizabeth, the daughter of Tory leader Robert Harley.[2] He soon fell into debt, a recurring problem throughout his life and by 1714 was receiving regular payments from the Stuart court in Saint-Germain.[3]

Queen Anne died in August 1714 and was succeeded by the Hanoverian George I, with the Whigs replacing the previous Tory government. Of the Tory leaders, Harley was imprisoned in the Tower and Bolingbroke joined James Francis Edward in France. Deprived of his offices, in September 1715 the Earl of Mar launched a Rebellion at Braemar in Scotland, without prior approval from James.[4]

Choice of sides was as much driven by the political contest between Whigs and Tories as it was allegiance to the Stuarts or Hanoverians. Atholl had opposed the 1707 Acts of Union but by 1715 he was a pro-Hanoverian Unionist and forbade his sons to participate in the Rebellion, threatening to disinherit them if they did so.[5]

Despite this, Tullibardine and his brothers Charles (1691–1720) and George (1694–1760) joined the Jacobite army. Atholl blamed their defection on Lady Nairne (1673–1747), a committed Jacobite married to his cousin Lord William Murray (1664–1726), whose husband and sons took part in the 1715 and 1745 Risings.[6] However, his other sons fought for the government in 1715 and like many others, Atholl had a history of balancing both sides, having spent the 1689 Rising in England. During the rising, Blair Castle was occupied by a 'Jacobite' garrison under Patrick Stewart, a trusted family retainer and besieged by his eldest son John, who was careful not to damage his ancestral home.[7]

Battle of Glenshiel, June 1719; Tulibardine was wounded but escaped

Lord Charles was captured at the Battle of Preston, a few days before the Battle of Sheriffmuir on 13 November, where Tullibardine commanded the left flank. The Jacobite right routed their opponents but their pursuit exposed their own centre and left wing, which now fled in their turn.[8] While inconclusive, Sheriffmuir was a Jacobite strategic defeat and without external support the Rebellion collapsed. Lord Charles, who held a commission in the 5th Dragoons, was tried as a deserter and sentenced to be shot. Charles was pardoned but his two brothers exiled; Tullibardine was attainted and James Murray (1690–1764) replaced him as heir.[9]

The Murrays were involved in efforts to gain support for another invasion from Sweden, then in dispute with Hanover over Pomerania and an example of the complexity caused by its ruler also being British monarch.[10] This was resurrected as part of the 1719 Rebellion; its main component was a Spanish landing in South-West England, with a subsidiary rising in Scotland to capture Inverness and enable a Swedish naval expeditionary force to disembark.[11]

Tullibardine and Lord George arrived in Stornoway in April 1719 where they met up with other exiles, including 300 Spanish marines under George Keith. For various reasons, only the Scottish element took place and the rebellion collapsed after defeat in the Battle of Glenshiel on 10 June; Tullibardine was wounded, as was Lord George and despite large rewards offered for their capture, both escaped once more.[12]

Lord George Murray (1694-1760); younger brother and fellow Jacobite

The manner of the rebellion's failure led Tullibardine to conclude that a Stuart restoration was hopeless unless supported by a landing in England as well as Scotland.[13] In a letter of 16 June 1719 to the Earl of Mar, he concluded "our being brought away so very unreasonably will I'm affraid ruin the Kings Interest and faithful subjects in these parts; seeing we came with hardly any thing that was realy (sic) necessary for such an undertaking".[14] Senior leaders like Bolingbroke and the Earl of Seaforth were allowed home, while George Keith and his brother James became Prussian officers.[15]

When their father died in 1724, James succeeded as Duke of Atholl; in 1717, Tullibardine had been created Duke of Rannoch in the Jacobite peerage and was now also referred to as Duke of Atholl, although he did not use the title himself.[16] Lord George accepted a pardon and returned home in 1725, while his brother remained in Paris. Details are scarce but in a long and often incoherent letter to James Stuart of March 1723, Tullibardine announced his retirement into private life, on the grounds that he was 'unfit ... for meddling with the deep concerns of state.'[17]

There are indications he suffered from both physical and mental illness and was continually short of money, despite financial support from his family in Scotland.[18] A memorandum of 1731 stated that Tullibardine had sold his horse as he was unable to buy it fodder, that he had only "a highland dress and a dressing gown of common cotton stuff" to wear and that his house "had the appearance of a retreat for robbers rather than that of a grand and powerful nobleman".[19]

In 1733 Tullibardine was arrested for failure to pay a wine bill of 3,000 livres.[20] Imprisoned for debt in 1736, he was released in 1737 and sent to live with James Dunne (1700–1758), an expatriate Irish Catholic serving as priest in the village of Boin, outside Chartres.[21]

In the 1745 Rising, Tullibardine was one of the Seven Men of Moidart who accompanied Prince Charles to Scotland. He suffered from gout and contemporaries noted he seemed closer to 70 than his true age of 58, 'had ceased to be Scotch...' and '...could scarce write his own language.'[22] Despite this, he was of value to the Jacobites due to the large recruitment potential of the Atholl estates, and raising men was his main concern for much of the Rising.[23] He could still command the respect of the Atholl tenants, bringing out more for Charles than his brother James did for the government,[24] and his presence may have been a factor in Lord George unexpectedly joining the Jacobite army at Perth on 3 September. Returning to Blair Castle for the first time in 30 years, he was appointed commander of Jacobite forces north of the Forth and on 30 October arrived in Edinburgh with around 600 recruits which were formed into the Duke of Atholl's Regiment, later expanded into the three-battalion "Atholl Brigade".[25]

Tullibardine accompanied the expedition into England and the subsequent retreat from Derby. Following the victory at Falkirk in January 1746 he returned to Perthshire to gather more men. The Jacobite ability to field an army was affected by the Highlanders' traditional mode of warfare, which involved returning home in the winter. The Atholl Brigade suffered from particularly high rates of desertion; "For God's sake make examples", Lord George urged Tullibardine on 27 January, "or we shall be undone".[26] It was reported that Tullibardine and his agents used threats of violence and particularly of destruction of property both to ensure recruitment and to discourage desertion.[27]

Tullibardine rejoined Prince Charles at Culloden House on 19 February and shortly afterwards, Blair Castle was occupied by government forces under Sir Andrew Agnew. Accompanied by a servant, Tullibardine managed to escape after Culloden in April 1746, but his infirmities and age meant he was scarcely able to sit on a horse. On 27 April they reached Ross Priory in Dumbartonshire but Tullibardine was too sick to go further, and was captured by government troops.

After being held in Dumbarton Castle Tullibardine was subsequently sent to Leith and on 13 May was embarked on HMS Eltham; as the ship proceeded north to pick up further prisoners he did not arrive at the Tower of London until late June. His health had further deteriorated; he died there on 9 July before coming to trial and was buried in St Peter ad Vincula, the church attached to the Tower.

Author Amy Jarecki states the character of Aiden in her novel 'The Highland Commander' is 'loosely based on William Murray, Marquis Tullibardine.'[28] In December 2018, the Tullibardine distillery named one of their single malts 'The Murray' after him.[29]

• Atholl, Duke of (ed), John (1907). The Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Families; Volume II. Ballentyne Press.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Derr, Eric (2013). The Irish Catholic Episcopal Corps 1657–1829; Volume 2. PHD Thesis; National University of Maynooth. p. 40.
• Dickson, William Kirk. "The Jacobite Attempt of 1719; Letters of the Duke of Ormonde to Cardinal Alberoni". Missing or empty |url= (help)
• Ehrenstein von, Christoph (2004). Erskine, John, styled twenty-second or sixth earl of Mar and Jacobite duke of Mar (1675–1732), Jacobite army officer, politician, and architect. Oxford DNB.
• Hill, John (ed), Laing, David (ed) (1840). Jacobite correspondence of the Atholl family : during the rebellion, 1745–1746 : from the originals in the possession of James Erskine of Aberdona, Esq. Abbotsford. pp. 228–232.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Kennedy, Allan. "Rebellion, Government and the Scottish Response to Argyll's Rising of 1685". Journal of Scottish Historical Studies. 36 (1).
• Klinger, PF. "The Jacobite Rebellion of 1719; Revenge & Regrets;" (PDF). The Scholarship.ecu.edu.
• Lenman, Bruce (1980). The Jacobite Risings in Britain 1689–1746. Eyre Methuen. ISBN 0413396509.
• McCann, Jean E (1963). The Organisation of the Jacobite Army. PHD thesis Edinburgh University. OCLC 646764870.
• Pittock, Murray (2004). Murray, William, styled second duke of Atholl and marquess of Tullibardine. Oxford DNB online.
• Ruvigny et Raineval, Henry Massue (1904). The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Grants of Honour (1974 ed.). Skilton. ISBN 9780284985354.
• Szechi, Daniel, Sankey, Margaret (November 2001). "Elite Culture and the Decline of Scottish Jacobitism 1716-1745". Past & Present. 173.
• Thompson, Ralph. "1717 and the invasion that never was". National Archives.