John Murray of Philiphaugh MP (1726-1800)

Artist Allan Ramsay (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1713 - 1784)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 76.4 cm, Width: 63.8 cm
Frame: Height: 87.8 cm, Width: 76 cm

AcquisitionBequeathed in 1986 by A L Gray through the National Art Collections Fund.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG007556

Keywords

About MeThis portrait may be a studio copy after an original version by Allan Ramsay.

The sitter, John Murray (1726-1800,) was educated at Glasgow University and became an advocate in 1748. The 18th of his line, Murray failed to win his father's parliamentary seat of Selkirkshire, so stood and won the seat at Linlithgow. Popular, generous and reckless he lost the large part of his wealth through gambling and bad investments. In 1769, Murray went to America in an attempt to recoup his losses, but was back in Scotland in 1784 in such an impoverished state that the magistrates and council of Selkirk offered him financial assistance. Murray settled with his family in Jamaica, where he died in 1800.
More About Me

Collections Wall

Murray, advocate and MP, lost heavily from gambling and bad investments. He failed to recoup his losses in America, returning impoverished to Scotland and eventually settled in Jamaica.