General Sir George Murray in civilian dress, c.1819 (miniature on ivory)

General Sir George Murray in civilian dress, 1819 (c). Miniature, watercolour on ivory, by J Holmes, 1819 (c). Born in Perth, Murray (1772-1846) was commissioned into the 71st Foot in 1789, reaching the rank of captain in 1794, and seeing service in Flanders, the West Indies, England and Ireland. In 1799 he was made a Lieutenant-Colonel and served as quartermaster general (1808-1811) during the Peninsular War. Murray was promoted to colonel in 1809. After a brief period as Quartermaster General in Ireland, Murray returned to the Peninsular as major-general (1813-1814). He served as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 1814-1815 and reviewed the defences of Canada. In 1815, following Napoleon's escape from Elba, he returned to Europe, but arrived too late to take part in the Waterloo campaign. Murray was then Chief of Staff to the Army of Occupation in France. Appointed Governor of the Royal Military College in 1819, he was subsequently made Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance and Commander-in-Chief of the Army in Ireland. Murray resigned from the latter post in 1828 to become Colonial Secretary.