# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Murray, William (d.1746)

​MURRAY, WILLIAM, Marquis of Tullibardine (d. 1746), was the second and eldest surviving son of John, second marquis and first duke of Atholl [q. v.], by Lady Catherine Hamilton. At an early period he seems to have entered the navy for in a letter dated at Spithead, 29 Aug. 1708, he gives his father an account of an unsuccessful attempt at landing on the coast of France in which his ship took part (Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. pt, viii. p. 64). At first he was known as Lord William Murray, but became Marquis of Tullibardine on the death of his elder brother John at Malplaquet 31 Aug. 1709.
Tullibardine was one of the first to join the standard of Mar and the Chevalier in 1715, and although his father remained faithful to the government the bulk of the Atholl men ​accompanied him (Patten, Rebellion, pt. ii. p. 91). The duke intimated to the government on 13 Sept. that he had hopes of his returning 'to his duty' providing he were assured of pardon; but although this was practically offered to him, the offer was unavailing (Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. pt. viii. p. 68). At the battle of Sheriffmuir his forces formed part of the left wing, which was routed and tied northwards, the marquis reaching Perth the same night with only a few horse (ib. p. 70). It was the intention of the prince, when after the retreat from Perth he embarked at Montrose, for France to have taken Tullibardine with him, but he was then at Brechin with a part of the foot (Mar's Journal in Patten, pt. ii. p. 109). He, however, managed to shift from place to place till he found an opportunity to escape (Patten, p. 89). On account of his share in the rebellion he was attainted, and the titles and estates of the family conferred on a younger brother, Lord James Murray.
Tullibardine was joint commander with the Earl Marischal [see Keith, George, tenth Earl Marischal] of the expedition to the north-west highlands in 1719; and through negotiations with his brother Lord George [q. v.] succeeded in inducing a large number of Atholl men, as well as the Macgregors under Rob Roy, to co-operate with the Spanish forces. Lockhart, however, asserts that Tullibardine and Marischal were soon at variance about the command (Papers, ii. 19), and to their divided counsels is generally attributed the defeat at Glenshiels on 10 June. Tullibardine was severely wounded in the battle, but although a reward of 2,000l. was offered for his capture he succeeded in again making his escape to the continent. In October 1736 he had for some time been a prisoner for debt in Paris, but on appeal to the parliament of Paris he was set at liberty, on the ground that one of his rank was not liable to confinement for debt (Notes and Queries, 4th ser. x. 161). It would appear that after his return to the continent he had been created by the exiled prince Duke of Rannoch (Jacobite Correspondence of the Atholl Family, p. 227), but after the death of his father in 1724 he was recognised by the Jacobites as Duke of Atholl.
Tullibardine was one of the seven followers of Prince Charles who on 22 June 1745 embarked with him at St. Nazaire on the Loire for Scotland, and on 23 July landed with him at Borrodale. On account of his strong and consistent Jacobitism, and as representative of the powerful house of Atholl, he was chosen to unfurl the standard at Glenfinnan on 16 Aug., when he also read a manifesto in the name of James VIII, dated Rome, December 1743, proclaiming a regency in favour of his son, Prince Charles. As Tullibardine hoped to gain the Atholl men before his brother the duke should have time to bring his influence to bear on them, the insurgents, instead of making any attempt to pursue General Cope, who evaded them at Corrigarrick, marched southwards into Atholl. On their approach the duke fled from his castle of Blair, which was immediately taken possession of by Tullibardine, who as the rightful possessor here entertained the prince. The prince then proceeded to Perth, and the day after he reached it Tullibardine joined him with a large number of Atholl men under his brother Lord George Murray [q. v.], who was made lieutenant-general. Tullibardine was not present at the battle of Prestonpans, having remained at Blair to collect men and arms and to rally the highland clans to the standard of the prince (see Correspondence of the Atholl Family, passim). On 22 Sept. he was named commander-in-chief of the forces north of the Forth (ib. p. 227). After bringing large reinforcements to the prince he accompanied the expedition into England. On the defeat of the insurgents at Culloden on 16 April 1746, Tullibardine, accompanied by an Italian, fled northwestwards through Ross-shire, with the intention of gaining the seacoast, whence he hoped to obtain a passage to the Isle of Mull; but their horses tiring, and Tullibardine, on account of bad health, being unable to proceed on foot, they went on 27 April to the house of William Buchanan, a justice of the peace, and delivered themselves up. They were brought south and committed to Dumbarton Castle, whence the marquis was sent to the Tower of London, where he died without issue on the 9th of the following July, in his fifty-eighth year.
[Histories of the Rebellions of 1715 and 1745; Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. pt. viii.; Jacobite Correspondence of the Atholl Family (Bannatyne Club); Douglas's Scottish Peerage (Wood), i. 152.]
T. F. H.