John Atholl Bannatyne Murray was born on 20 January 1810. He was the eldest son of
Lieutenant-Colonel (later
Major-General)
Evan John Murray (1785–1841), an officer in the
British Army, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Murray (1787–1846). He had four younger brothers, Evan John William Murray-Macgregor, James Strathallan Murray-Macgregor, Lt. Francis Alexander Robert Murray-Macgregor, and Lt.-Col. Ernest Augustus Murray-Macgregor. In 1822, his father inherited the
chieftaincy of
Clan Gregor and the
baronetcy created for
his own father in 1795, after which Murray added Macgregor to his surname. Sir Evan later served as
Governor of Dominica from 1831 to 1832,
Antigua and the
Leeward Islands from 1832 to 1836, and
Barbados and the
Windward Islands from 1836 to 1841. His paternal grandparents were Capt.
Sir John Macgregor Murray, 1st Baronet, an officer in the
Bengal Army, and Anne Macleod (a daughter of Roderick Macleod,
WS, of
Edinburgh). His maternal grandparents were
John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl and the former Hon. Jane Cathcart (daughter of the
9th Lord Cathcart and
Jane, Lady Cathcart). ==Career==