George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl

Who was George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl?

George Augustus Frederick John Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl KT DL was a Scottish peer and freemason.

Born at Great Cumberland Place, London, he was the son of James Murray, 1st Baron Glenlyon, who was the second son of John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl, and his wife Lady Emily Frances Percy, second daughter of Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland. He succeeded his father as baron in 1837 and his uncle John Murray as duke in 1846. Murray served in the British Army and was lieutenant of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, retiring in 1840.

Murray became a Deputy Lieutenant of Perthshire in 1846 and was invested as a Knight of the Thistle in 1853. As Lord Glenlyon, he formed the Atholl Highlanders in 1839 as his personal bodyguard. In 1844, when Queen Victoria stayed at Blair Castle, the Atholl Highlanders provided the guard for the Queen. So impressed was she with their turnout that she ordered they be presented with colours, giving them official status as a British regiment.

On 29 October 1839, he married Anne Home-Drummond, daughter of Henry Home-Drummond. Murray died in 1864, aged 49, from cancer of the neck and was succeeded in his titles by his only child John.