Charlotte Murray, Duchess of Atholl


Charlotte Murray, Duchess of Atholl, suo jure 8th Baroness Strange was a Scottish peeress.
A plaster sculpture portrait of her, described as "After James Tassie", is held by the National Galleries of Scotland.

Early life and background

Born Lady Charlotte Murray, she was the daughter of James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl, and his first wife, Jane Frederick.
On 23 October 1753, she married her first cousin, John Murray at Dunkeld, Scotland. They had nine children.
On 8 January 1764, Charlotte's father died. Her husband, John, should have been heir to the dukedom, which was only able to descend through the male line; but he was ineligible since his father had fought in the Jacobite rising of 1745 and consequently been attainted in the blood. Charlotte, however, had succeeded to her father's title of Baron Strange and consequently held a higher position in society than her husband. On 7 February 1764, the House of Lords deemed John as the rightful heir to his uncle's title and he succeeded him as 3rd Duke of Atholl, whereupon Charlotte became Duchess of Atholl.
She inherited the sovereignty of the Isle of Man from her father on his death but sold it to the British Crown in 1765, for £70,000 and an annuity of £2,000 per year.
The duchess died on her 74th birthday in 1805, at Barochey House, near Glasgow, and was buried at Dunkeld.