John Stewart-Murray
Duke of Atholl
John James Hugh Henry Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl (6 August 1840 – 20 January 1917), styled Marquess of Tullibardine between 1846 and 1864, was a Scottish peer. Atholl was the only child of George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl, and Anne, daughter of Henry Home-Drummond. He was educated at Eton. He owned 201,000 acres in Perthshire. 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. He is also remembered for having devoted years of his life to editing the records of the family and the related history. 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. The Duchess of Atholl died in Italy on 9 July 1902, aged 58. The Duke of Atholl remained a widower until his death at Blair Castle in January 1917, aged 76.
The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I. In April 1633, Sir John Hepburn was granted a warrant by Charles I to recruit 1200 Scots for service with the French army in the 1618–1648 Thirty Years War. The nucleus came from Hepburn's previous regiment, which fought with the Swedes from 1625 until August 1632, when Hepburn quarrelled with Gustavus Adolphus. It absorbed other Scottish units in the Swedish army, as well as those already with the French and by 1635 totalled around 8,000 men. Following the custom of the time, the unit became known as the Régiment de Douglas. In 1660, Charles II was restored as king; in January 1661, Douglas's was sent to England in response to Venner's Rising, an attempted coup by Fifth Monarchists. The revolt was quickly crushed and it returned to France, since the recently elected Cavalier Parliament quickly disbanded the New Model Army but refused to fund replacements. It remained in France until 1679, apart from a period during the 1664-67 Second Anglo-Dutch War. During the 1672-74 Third Anglo-Dutch War, Douglas's was part of the British Brigade that fought with the French, commanded by the Duke of Monmouth. It served in the Rhineland throughout the Franco-Dutch War. The regiment was listed on the English military establishment as the First Foot or Royal Scots, a temporary measure during the
Exclusion Crisis of 1679–1681. Four of its twenty-one companies joined the Tangier Garrison in April 1680, with another twelve in September. It was awarded a battle honour for 'Tangier' in 1908, but the colony and its garrison was evacuated in 1684. On its return, the unit was renamed His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Foot in June 1684. When James II succeeded Charles in 1685, the regiment fought at the decisive Battle of Sedgemoor that ended the June Monmouth Rebellion. It was the only unit where the majority remained loyal to James during the November 1688 Glorious Revolution. At the start of the 1688–1697 Nine Years War, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Douglas commanded the first battalion at the Battle of Walcourt in 1689. After Schomberg was killed in Ireland, he was promoted Colonel in July 1690. The second battalion arrived from Scotland in 1690 and both battalions fought at the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692, where Sir Robert was killed. They then fought at the Battle of Landen in 1693 and at the Siege of Namur. When the Treaty of Ryswick ended the war in 1697, it was transferred to Ireland. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the regiment served under Marlborough at Schellenberg, Blenheim, Ramillies and Oudenarde. At Malplaquet in 1709, its members included William Hiseland, an 89-year-old reputed to be the last serving veteran of the First English Civil War. Both battalions spent 1715 to 1742 in Ireland, but after this were normally separated. The 1st was based in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession, where it fought at Fontenoy in 1745. After returning from Puerto Bello in 1743, the 2nd helped suppress the Jacobite rising of 1745, before being posted to Ireland once again. In the army reforms of 1751, the unit was ranked as the most senior infantry line regiment and titled the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot. On the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756, the 2nd Battalion moved to Nova Scotia in 1757, fighting at Louisburg, Guadeloupe and Havana, then returning home in 1764. The 1st Battalion had returned to the West Indies as a garrison in 1790, and served there until 1797, with a brief period of combat in the Haitian Revolution. In 1798 saw a major rebellion erupt in Ireland after years of simmering tension. The Lothian Fencibles fought with distinction at the Battle of Vinegar Hill, one of the more important engagements of the rebellion. After the rebellion was over in Ireland they were used in minor raids on the coast of Spain in 1800. Meanwhile, from 1793 to 1801, the 2nd Battalion was based in the Mediterranean. It fought at the Siege of Toulon (1793) and the capture of Corsica (1794), returning briefly to Northern Europe for the Battle of Egmont op Zee in the 1799 Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, before fighting in the 1801 Egyptian campaign at the Battle of Aboukir and the Battle of Alexandria. Both battalions were subsequently dispatched to the West Indies, the 1st from 1801 to 1812, and the 2nd from 1803 to 1806. The 1st occupied Saint Thomas in 1801, fought at the capture of Saint Lucia, as well as of Demerara and Essequibo in 1803, and the capture of Guadeloupe in 1810. The 2nd then moved to India, where it would remain until 1826, whilst the 1st was sent to Quebec with the outbreak of the War of 1812. It fought in the battles of Sackett's Harbor and Buffalo & Black Rock, as well as the capture of Fort Niagara (1813), the battles of Longwoods, Chippawa, and Lundy's Lane, along with the Siege of Fort Erie and the battle of Cook's Mills (1814). In February 1812, the regiment was retitled as the 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots), the first official appearance of the popular name. Two new battalions were raised in late 1804, at Hamilton, the 3rd and 4th Battalions. The 3rd served in the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1809, fighting at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 before being withdrawn by sea and sent to the Walcheren Campaign with the 1st Division. It returned to Portugal in 1810 with the 5th Division, fighting at the Battle of Buçaco (1810), the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro (1811), the battles of Badajoz, Salamanca and Burgos (1812), the Battle of Vitoria, capture of San Sebastián, Battle of Nivelle, and the Battle of Nive (1813), before advancing into France in 1814. It was sent to Belgium during the Hundred Days, and fought in Picton's Division (the 5th) at the Battle of Waterloo (1815). The 4th was deployed to the Baltic in 1813, being involved with the recapture of Stralsund, and fought in the Netherlands in 1814. The 1st battalion was sent to Ireland after the end of the Napoleonic wars. The 2nd battalion, however, had a more active time; based in India, it was involved in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, where it fought at the Battle of Nagpore (1817) and Battle of Mahidpur (1818), and in the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824–26. It moved to Canada in 1836, where it was involved in the Rebellions of 1837. The regiment fought at the Battle of Saint-Denis (1837), but was running low on ammunition as the British officers had underestimated the amount of insurgents, and with the enemy beginning to flank, Colonel Charles Gore gave the order to withdraw. Both battalions saw active service in the Crimean War, with the 1st fighting at the battles of Alma and Inkerman (1854), and both fighting in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), where the regiment's first VC was won. After the war, the 2nd battalion moved to Hong Kong, and saw action in the Second Opium War, fighting at the capture of the Taku Forts (1858) and Pekin (1860. In 1881, following comprehensive reforms following the Crimean war (Cardwell Reforms of 1870), the ambitious Childers Reforms were passed by the War Office. Under the final July reform, the regiment became The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). In 1881, the 1st was moved to South Africa in 1884, when it saw action in the Bechuanaland campaign. With the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War, the 1st was quickly earmarked for service in South Africa, and sailed in late 1899. The bulk of the time in South Africa was spent patrolling and in mobile columns, with neither battalion engaged in any major battles.
Duke of Atholl, named after Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of his father, the 1st Marquess. There were twelve subsidiary titles attached to the dukedom: Lord Murray of Tullibardine (1604), Lord Murray, Gask and Balquhidder (1628), Lord Murray, Balvany and Gask (1676), Lord Murray, Balvenie and Gask, in the County of Perth (1703), Viscount of Balquhidder (1676), Viscount of Balquhidder, Glenalmond and Glenlyon, in the County of Perth (1703), Earl of Atholl (1629), Earl of Tullibardine (1628), Earl of Tullibardine (1676), Earl of Strathtay and Strathardle, in the County of Perth (1703), Marquess of Atholl (1676) and Marquess of Tullibardine, in the County of Perth (1703). These titles are also in the Peerage of Scotland. The dukes have also previously held the following titles: Baron Strange (Peerage of England 1628) between 1736 and 1764 and 1805 and 1957; Baron Murray, of Stanley in the County of Gloucester, and Earl Strange (Peerage of Great Britain 1786) between 1786 and 1957, Baron Glenlyon, of Glenlyon in the County of Perth
(Peerage of the United Kingdom 1821) between 1846 and 1957 and Baron Percy (Peerage of Great Britain 1722) between 1865 and 1957. From 1786 to 1957, the Dukes of Atholl sat in the House of Lords as Earl Strange. The Duke of Atholl is the hereditary chief of Clan Murray. Clan Murray is a Highland Scottish clan. Their ancestors were the Morays of Bothwell who established the family in Scotland in the 12th century. In the 16th century, descendants of the Morays of Bothwell, the Murrays of Tullibardine, secured the chiefship of the clan and were created Earls of Tullibardine in 1606. The first Earl of Tullibardine married the heiress to the Stewart earldom of Atholl and Atholl therefore became a Murray earldom in 1626. The Murray Earl of Atholl was created Marquess of Atholl in 1676 and in 1703 it became a dukedom. The marquess of Tullibardine title has continued as a subsidiary title, being bestowed on elder sons of the chief until they succeed him as Duke of Atholl. The Murray chiefs played an important and prominent role in support of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Murrays also largely supported the Jacobite House of Stuart during the Jacobite risings of the 18th century. Clan Murray hold the unique position of commanding the only private army in Europe known as the Atholl Highlanders.The Dukes of Atholl belong to an ancient Scottish family. Sir William Murray of Castleton married Lady Margaret, daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl. Sir William was one of the many Scottish noblemen killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The sixth Duke was succeeded by his only child, John, the seventh Duke. In 1865 he succeeded as sixth Baron Percy through his grandmother aforesaid. The same year he registered the additional surname of Stewart at the Lyon Court. In 1893 he resumed the original spelling of the title, "Atholl" instead of "Athole".
Awards: Collar, sash and star of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.
