Background

Elibank was the son of Reverend Gideon Murray, younger son of Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of General David Montolieu, Baron de St Hypolite, while Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank

Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank

Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank . Son of Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank and Elizabeth Stirling. An author and economist much respected in his own time. Member of the Cocoa Tree Club and The Poker Club. Uncle of Major Patrick Ferguson killed at the Battle of King's Mountain in 1780.In 1722...

 was his paternal uncle. His brother was David Murray.

Political career

Elibank was returned to Parliament for Peeblesshire

Peeblesshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Peeblesshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 until 1868. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.-Boundaries:...

 in 1783, a seat he held until 1784. In 1785 he succeeded his uncle as seventh Lord Elibank. However, as this was a Scottish peerage

Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...

 it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Peeblesshire

Lord Lieutenant of Peeblesshire

This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Peeblesshire. The Lieutenancy has been replaced by the Lieutenancy of Tweeddale.*Alexander Murray, 7th Lord Elibank 12 May 1794 – 24 September 1820...

between 1794 and 1820.

Family

Lord Elibank was twice married. He married firstly Mary Clara, daughter of Lewis Charles Montolieu, Baron de St Hypolite, in 1776. After her death in January 1802 he married secondly Catherine, daughter of James Steuart, in 1804. Lord Elibank died in September 1820, aged 73, and was succeeded in the lordship by his son from his first marriage, Alexander. The son of his second marriage, James, became an advocate at the Scottish Bar, combined his wife's name to become Erskine Murray, and lost his life in 1844 while on a disastrous expedition to Borneo.