Lord George Murray was born at Huntingtower Castle near Perth on 4 October 1694. A younger son of John Murray, first Duke of Atholl, he became one of the principal military commanders of the 1745 Jacobite rising.

Murray gained military experience early, serving in the British Army in Flanders. He then joined two of his brothers in the 1715 Jacobite rising. After its failure, he went into exile, but returned to the Jacobite cause in 1719. He commanded troops at the Battle of Glenshiel, where he was wounded, and again fled abroad after the defeat.

Pardoned in 1725, Murray returned to Scotland. Twenty years later he initially refused to support Charles Edward Stuart’s rising, but changed his position and joined the Jacobite army. He was made a lieutenant-general and commanded its left wing at the victory of Prestonpans.

Murray’s relationship with Charles was difficult. He opposed the Jacobite advance into England and later supported the decision to retreat from Derby. During the withdrawal, he commanded the rearguard. Before Culloden in April 1746, he also argued that the chosen battlefield was unsuitable.

The defeat at Culloden ended the rising. Murray escaped from Scotland and spent the remainder of his life in exile.