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MUSGRAVE, GEORGE, youngest son of George Musgrave (KS 1698, qv); b.; adm.; adm. (aged 12) Jan 1752 (Grant's); Oriel Coll. Oxford, matr. 11 May 1758; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 4 May 1761; MP Carlisle 1768-74; d. unm. 27 Mar 1824.

MURRAY, WILLIAM, 1ST EARL OF MANSFIELD, fourth son of David Murray, 5th Viscount Stormont (S), and Margery, only child of David Scott, Scotstarvet, Fifeshire; b. 2 Mar 1704/5; adm. May 1718; for his journey from Scotland to Westminster on back of his pony, and for some curious items in the account of monies disbursed on his behalf before and after admission, see Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chief Justices, ii, 313-6; KS (Capt. ) 1719; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1723, matr. 18 Jun 1723, Westminster Student 24 Dec 1723 – void 29 Jun 1737; BA 1727; MA 1730; defeated William Pitt (Earl of Chatham) in competition for prize offered by University for a Latin poem on the death of George I; Grand Tour; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 23 Apr 1724, called to bar 23 Nov 1730, Bencher 15 Dec 1742, Treasurer 1744; practised in Court of Chancery, and within two years of call had appeared in three appeal cases before House of Lords; KC 1742; Solicitor-Gen., 27 Nov 1742 – Apr 1754; MP Boroughbridge 29 Nov 1742 – 8 Nov 1756; his success in the House of Commons was as brilliant as his success at the bar, and he came to be regarded as the ablest government spokesman in the House; to discredit him, an old story was raked up about his toasting the Pretender in the company of James Johnson (adm. 1717/8, qv) and Andrew Stone (qv), but the Privy Council reported that there was no foundation for the charge; it was subsequently the subject of a debate in the House of Lords on 22 Mar 1753, but the Duke of Bedford’s motion for the production of the proceedings before the Privy Council was rejected by 122 votes to 5, and no further enquiry was made (Campbell, ii, 370-6; Walpole, Letters, ed. Toynbee, iii, 148; the papers relating to the charge of toasting are in the British Library, Newcastle MSS 33050, ff. 200-368); Attorney-Gen., 9 Apr 1754 – Nov 1756; defended the Duke of Newcastle’s administration against attacks by Pitt in the House of Commons; on the death in 1756 of Sir Dudley Ryder, Lord Chief Justice, Murray claimed the vacant post and a peerage; Lord Chief Justice of England 8 Nov 1756 – 4 Jun 1788; created Baron Mansfield 8 Nov 1756; Privy Councillor 19 Nov 1756; held seals of Chancellor of the Exchequer Apr – Jun 1757, Sep – Dec 1767; accepted cabinet seat in Duke of Newcastle’s second administration, without office but with disposal of the Scottish patronage, Jul 1757; created Earl of Mansfield 31 Oct 1776, with special remainder to Louisa, wife of his nephew David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (S) (qv); owing to his approval of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill of 1778, his house in Bloomsbury Square was sacked and burned by the Gordon Rioters 7 Jun 1780; the loss of his library and MSS was lamented by William Cowper (qv) in some charming verses (Works, ed. Southey, viii, 322-3); spoke for last time in House of Lords 23 Mar 1784; after 1788 lived in retirement at Caen Wood, Highgate; received a new creation as Earl of Mansfield 1 Aug 1792, with special remainder to his nephew David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (S) (qv); the position which he held for many years as a Cabinet minister was anomalous; in Feb 1775 he stated in the House of Lords that “he had been a Cabinet Minister part of the late reign, and the whole of the present”, but that he had ceased “to act as an efficient Cabinet minister” shortly before the formation of the Rockingham ministry (Parliamentary History, xviii, 274-5); twice refused post of Lord Chancellor, but acted as Speaker of House of Lords Jan 1770 – Jan 1771 and Feb – Dec 1783; as a parliamentary speaker Pitt was his only rival; by birth a Jacobite and by association a Tory, his politics were more or less dominated by his legal interests; his reputation as a statesman is somewhat blurred by his support of the coercing of the American colonies; as an advocate known as “the silver-tongued Murray”; his ascendancy as Lord Chief Justice is indicated by the claim that during the thirty-two years that he held office there were only two cases in which his opinion was not unanimously adopted by his colleagues, and that only two of his judgments were reversed on appeal (Campbell, ii, 395-6); Mansfield’s charges to juries on the law of libel made him unpopular with contemporary public opinion, and he was violently attacked by Junius; the founder of modern commercial law and one of the greatest of common law judges; as a young man a friend of Pope, who dedicated to him his Sixth Epistle of the First Book of Horace, and cdelebrated his charms in Book IV, Ode I; Busby Trustee 25 Feb 1741/2; m. 20 Sep 1738 Lady Elizabeth Finch, seventh dau. of Daniel Finch, 6th Earl of Winchilsea and 2nd Earl of Nottingham (qv); d. 20 Mar 1793. Buried North Transept, Westminster Abbey (monument), having expressed a desire in his will to be buried there on account of “the love I bear to the place of my early education”. DNB.

MURRAY, WILLIAM DAVID, 3RD EARL OF MANSFIELD (cr. 1776) and 4TH EARL OF MANSFIELD (cr. 1792), eldest son of David William Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield (qv); b. 21 Feb 1806; styled Viscount Stormont 1806-40; adm. 19 Sep 1816 (Packharness'); left Christmas 1822; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 14 Apr 1823; MP (Cons) Aldborough 1830-1 New Woodstock 1831-2 Norwich 1832-7 Perthshire 1837 – 18 Feb 1840; a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury 1834-5; succ. father as 4th Earl of Mansfield (cr. 1792) 18 Feb 1840, and grandmother as 3rd Earl of Mansfield (cr. 1776) 11 Jul 1843; took Conservative whip, House of Lords; Lord High Commissioner to General Assembly, Church of Scotland 1852, 1858-9; Lord Lieut., Clackmannanshire, from 1852; KT 13 Jun 1843; “father” of the House of Lords; m. 8 Apr 1829 Louisa, dau. of Cuthbert Ellison MP, Hepburn Hall, co. Durham; d. 2 Aug 1898.

MURRAY, JAMES PATRICK, only son of Gen. Hon. James Murray, Governor of Quebec, and his second wife Anne, dau. of Abraham Witham, Consul-Gen., Minorca; b. 21 Jan 1782; adm. 7 Jul 1794 (Clapham); in school list 1797; left Bartholomewtide 1797; Ensign, 44th Foot 1 Nov 1797; Lieut., 15 Mar 1798; Capt. -Lieut. and Capt., 9th Foot 26 Dec 1799; 66th Foot 9 Jul 1803; Maj., 9 Feb 1804; Lieut. -Col., 25 May 1809; 5th Garrison Bn., 2 Nov 1809; half-pay 6 Feb 1815; Brevet Col., 12 Aug 1819; Major-Gen., 22 Jul 1830; served in Netherlands and at the passage of the river Douro in Portugal; CB 8 Dec 1815; MP Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) 1802 – Feb 1803; m. 31 Jan 1803 Elizabeth, eldest dau. of Edward Rushworth MP, Freshwater House, isle of Wight; d. 5 Dec 1834.

MURE, DAVID, LORD MURE, brother of William Mure (qv); b. 21 Nov 1810; adm. 28 Feb 1825 (Stelfox's); Edinburgh Univ.; adm. advocate 23 Dec 1831; Advocate Depute 1843-6; Sheriff of Perthshire 1853-8; MP (Cons) Buteshire 1859- Jan 1865; Solicitor-Gen. for Scotland 12 Jul 1858 – Apr 1859, Lord Advocate 15 Apr – Jun 1859; an Ordinary Lord of Session, with judicial title of Lord Mure, 11 Jan 1865- Oct 1889; a Commissioner of Justiciary 1 Apr 1874-89; DL Midlothian, Buteshire; m. 20 Jul 1841 Helen, eldest dau. of John Tod, Kirkhill, Midlothian, Writer to the Signet; d. 11 Apr 1891.

MOYSEY, ABEL, son of Abel Moysey MD, Bath, and Hinton Charterhouse, Somerset, medical practitioner, and Elizabeth, dau. of Rev. John Fortrie, Vicar of Washington, Sussex; b. 23 Aug 1743; adm.; KS (Capt., aged 12) 1756; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1760, matr. 9 Jun 1760, Westminster Student 24 Dec 1760 – void 25 Jun 1774; BA 1764; MA 1767; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 2 Feb 1758, called to bar 31 Mar 1767, Bencher 18 Jun 1802, Treasurer 1811; a Commissioner of Bankrupts 1771-4; Second Justice of Brecon 1777-1819; Deputy to King’s Remembrancer, Exchequer 16 Jun 1795-1824; one of the four Registrars of Deeds, Middlesex 1796-1813; MP Bath 1774-90; m. 26 Dec 1774 Charlotte, fourth dau. of Sir Richard Warwick Bampfylde, Bart. MP; d. 3 Jul 1831.

MOWBRAY, SIR JOHN ROBERT, BART., only son of Robert Stribling Cornish, Exeter, Devon, architect, Mayor and Alderman of Exeter, and Marianne, only dau. of John Powning, Hill’s Court, near Exeter, Devon, architect and builder; b. 3 Jun 1815; adm. 16 Sep 1829 (Stelfox's); left Christmas 1832; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 23 May 1833, Canoneer Student 1835-47, Honorary Student 1877; President, Oxford Union 1836; BA 1837; MA 1839; DCL 30 Nov 1868; Hon. Fellow, Hertford Coll., 1875; adm. Inner Temple 15 Oct 1834, called to bar 19 Nov 1841; Western Circuit; assumed surname of Mowbray in lieu of Cornish 26 Jul 1847; MP (Cons) Durham Jun 1853-68, Oxford University from 1868; “Father” of House of Commons from 1898; Judge Advocate-Gen., 1858-9, 1866-8; Privy Councillor 6 Apr 1858; a Church Estates Commissioner 1866-8, 1871-92; created baronet 3 May 1880; DL JP co. Durham, JP Berkshire 1858; a Governor of the School from 1877; Busby Trustee 19 May 1885; m. 19 Aug 1847 Elizabeth Gray, only surviving child of George Isaac Mowbray, Bishopwearmouth, co. Durham; d. 22 Apr 1899. DNB.

MOSTYN, SIR ROGER, BART., elder son of Sir Thomas Mostyn, Bart. (adm. 1716, qv); b. 13 Nov 1734; adm. Apr 1745 (Hawkins'); left 1751; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 19 Jun 1751; succ. father as 5th baronet 24 Mar 1758; Grand Tour (Italy) 1763; MP Flintshire from 26 Apr 1758; Lord Lieut., Flintshire, from 1761; Col., Flintshire Militia (occurs 1774); m. 19 May 1766 Margaret, dau. of Rev. Hugh Wynne LLD, Prebendary of Salisbury; d. 26 Jul 1796.

MOSTYN, JOHN, brother of Sir Thomas Mostyn, Bart. (adm. 1716, qv); b.; adm. (aged 13) Jun 1722; KS 1723; Capt. of the School 1727; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1728, matr. Jun 1728, Westminster Student 23 Dec 1728 – deprived 10 Dec 1734 (absence); Ensign, 16th Foot 29 Feb 1732; Capt., 6 Nov 1736; Capt. -Lieut., 2nd Foot Guards 2 Sep 1742; Capt. and Lieut. -Col., 2 Apr 1743; wounded at battle of Fontenoy 1745; Brevet Col. and ADC to George II 3 Dec 1747 (listed as ADC, Chamberlayne 1748); Col., 7th Foot (Royal Fusiliers) 26 Jan 1751 – Jul 1754, 13th Dragoons 8 Jul 1754 – Oct 1758; Maj. -Gen., 8 Jul 1757; Col., 5th Dragoons 18 Oct 1758 – Aug 1760; Lieut. -Gen., 8 Apr 1759; Col., 7th Dragoons 18 Aug 1760 – May 1763, 1st Dragoon Guards, from 13 May 1763; Gen., 25 May 1772; MP Malton 30 Dec 1741-68; Groom of the Bedchamber from 20 Jan 1746; Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Minorca, from 2 Mar 1768; defendant in 1773 in an action successfully brought by Anthony Fabrigas, who he had banished from the island (Howell, State Trials, xx, 81-238); d. 13 Feb 1779. DNB.

MORRIS-JONES, THOMAS, only son of William Morris-Jones, Moneyglass House, Toomebridge, co. Antrim, and Anne, dau. of Capt. William Dobbyn, Duneane House, Toome; b. 22 Nov 1720; adm. May 1737 (Taylor's); left 1741; Capt., Dragoons 30 Sep 1743; m. 7 Jun 1740 Elizabeth, dau. of Robert Cope MP (I), Loughgall, co. Armagh; d. 12 Apr 1769.