John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore

Who was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore?

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, generally known as Lord Dunmore, was a Scottish peer and colonial governor in the American colonies.

Murray was named governor of the Province of New York in 1770, he succeeded to the same position in the Colony of Virginia the following year, after the death of Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt. As Virginia's governor, Dunmore directed a series of campaigns against the trans-Appalachian Indians, known as Lord Dunmore's War. He is noted for issuing a 1775 document proclaiming martial law in Virginia, in an attempt to turn back the rebel cause in Virginia. Dunmore fled to New York after the Burning of Norfolk in 1776, and later returned to Britain, although he did later spend time as Governor of the Bahama Islands, from 1787 to 1796. Dunmore was the last royal governor of Virginia.