James Murray

This portraitback to top

A slightly reduced derivative version, showing sky and a rampart wall in the left background, belongs to the Canadian High Commission in London. Two later copies are recorded: one made c.1910 for the National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, [1] another in the Sigmund Samuel collection, Toronto, by 1952 (slightly reduced all round).

Footnotesback to top

1) According to a letter of February 1940 from Enid Vaughan (NPG archives; she was secretary to the testator’s brother).

Physical descriptionback to top

Grey eyes, white powdered wig with a black ribbon, wearing the uniform coat of a major-general,¹ bright red coat with gold trim and blue cuffs, and buff/silver waistcoat with gold trim; Abraham Heights, Quebec, seen in the distance.

¹ The uniform coat was introduced in 1767; the waistcoat should be buff - the white pattern was only introduced in 1772, the month Murray was promoted to lieutenant-general (note by Maj. N. P. Dawnay, 1951, on file).

Provenanceback to top

By descent to the sitter’s great-great grandson, Gen. E. R. B. Murray, by whom bequeathed 1942.

Exhibitionsback to top

Pageant of Canada, Ottowa, 1967 (103); Georgian Canada, Toronto, 1984 (77); Eighteenth-century Montreal, Montreal, 1993.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

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