William Mure

William Mure (December 1718 – 25 March 1776), known as others of his family as William Mure of Caldwell, was a Scottish lawyer and politician. He became a Baron of the Scots Exchequer and was a friend of Prime Minister Lord Bute and David Hume.

Early life Mure was born late in 1718, the eldest son and successor to William Mure of Caldwell in Ayr and Renfrewshire, by his wife Anne Stewart, daughter of Sir James Stewart (1635–1713), The Mure line of Caldwell is distantly related to William Mure (1594–1657), the writer, and a descendant of the Mure/Muir line of Rowallan. He had one sister, Agnes Mure (d. 1758), who married Rev. Patrick Boyle (1717–1798), son of John Boyle, 2nd Earl of Glasgow.

His father dying in April 1722, he was brought up at home by his mother, under the tutorship of William Leechman; later Mure helped Leechman to his position of Principal of Glasgow University.

Career Mure graduated from Glasgow University in 1730, studied law at Edinburgh and Leyden, and travelled during 1741 in France and Holland. Returning to Scotland in November 1742, he was elected Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire, a seat which he held without opposition during three parliaments till 1761, when he was appointed a baron of the Scots exchequer. He spoke rarely, and attended irregularly, his principal interest lying in agricultural improvements.

He is best known as the friend of Lord Bute and David Hume. He helped Bute with the management of the Bute estates, became a close friend and adviser, and as Bute rose in politics was eventually one of the most influential men in Scotland, with input into its local affairs and the distribution of Scottish patronage.

Personal life In 1752, he married Anne Grahame, daughter of James Grahame, Lord Easdale (1696–1750). Lord Easdale, the second son of John Graham of Dougalston (1669–1722), became an advocate on 9 February 1723. He was appointed a Judge of the Court of Session on 3 June 1749, succeeding Robert Dundas of Arniston, and received the title of Lord Easdale. He only served briefly, as he died at Edinburgh in August 1750. daughter of Sir James Hunter Blair, 1st Baronet (1741–1787) of Dunskey, Wigtownshire. James Mure was the mother of Archibald Campbell Swinton (1812–1890), the author and politician, and James Rannie Swinton (1816–1888), the portrait artist. His grandsons included William Mure (1799–1860), an MP for Renfrewshire from 1846 to 1855, and David Mure, Lord Mure (1810–1891), an MP for Buteshire from 1859 to 1865.