James Murray

James Murray (August 9, 1713 – November 8, 1781) was a British loyalist who lived in North Carolina and Boston prior to the American Revolution, eventually escaping from Boston to settle in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was one of the few loyalists who lived in both the South and the North prior to the Revolution, making the letters he wrote particularly valuable.

Early life Murray was born on August 9, 1713, in Unthank in Scotland. He was son of John Murray and Anne (née Bennet) Murray, who married in April 1712. Among his siblings was John Murray (1721-1781) of Norwich and Elizabeth Murray (1726-1785), later Campbell, Smith, and Inman. Both John and Elizabeth were painted by John Singleton Copley. Another sister, Barbara Murray, was married to Thomas Clark, a merchant, and was the mother of Thomas Clark (a Continental Army officer) and Ann Clark (the wife of William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence).

His paternal grandfather was John Murray of Bowhill. to Boston to live with his sister Elizabeth.

He turned the operation of the plantation over to his nephew, Thomas Clark, who became a Brigadier general in the Continental Army.

In 1778, Murray, who remained loyal to the British Crown, evacuated Boston and moved north to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Personal life Portrait of his daughter, Elizabeth, by Chester Harding, 1827. In 1761, he married Barbara Bennet (1724–1760). Barbara was the daughter of Andrew Bennet and Dorothy (née Collingwood) Bennet. Her mother was the half-sister Cuthbert Collingwood (grandfather of Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood). Together, they were the parents of:

Dorothy "Dolly" Murray (1745–1837), who married Rev. John Forbes (1740–1783) in 1769.

Murray died in 1781 and was buried in the Old Burying Ground in Halifax.

Descendants Through his eldest daughter Dorothy, he was the grandfather of diplomat John Murray Forbes.