Robert Murray (Royal Navy officer)

by Jean Antoine Théodore de Gudin. Murray was present during the fighting as a lieutenant aboard . Little is recorded of Murray's early life and service, but he was born circa 1763 and entered the navy at a young age, The Annual Biography and Obituary noting that he "may almost be said to have been cradled on the wave." He left her on his promotion to post-captain on 15 December 1782, towards the end of the American War of Independence. He briefly commanded the newly purchased 16-gun sloop at New York City in January 1783, but she was broken up at the end of the month. The naval draw-down after the war meant there was little opportunity for employment. Murray finally received a ship in January 1789, when he was appointed to command the 32-gun prior to and during the Spanish Armament. He took her out to the Leeward Islands and served there under the station commander, Sir John Laforey, but returned to Britain in 1792. ==French Revolutionary Wars==

{{multiple image With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, Murray was appointed to command the 36-gun HMS Oiseau in September 1793. He took her out to the Leeward Islands with a squadron under Rear-Admiral George Murray, departing Plymouth on 18 May 1794. Murray's decision meant that when Wallis actually came to join a ship, the 32-gun in 1804 at the age of thirteen, he already had nearly ten years of service logged, allowing him to amass 96 years of service in the Royal Navy before his death at the age of 100. ==Flag rank and later life==

Murray was promoted to rear-admiral on 23 April 1804, and thereafter rose through the ranks, reaching vice-admiral on 25 October 1809. He was appointed to be Commander in Chief, North Yarmouth in summer 1811, and hoisted his flag aboard HMS Solebay. He held the post until the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to admiral on 12 August 1819, though he never again served actively. He remained interested in naval affairs in his retirement, and in 1821 played an important part in the establishment of a floating chapel at Liverpool for the use of sailors, persuading the Admiralty to loan them for the purpose. He had at least two sons during his life, who followed their father into the navy and by the time of his death had reached the ranks of commander and lieutenant. He also had a son, Robert Sherbourne Murray (1808–1852), a Major in the Army, who died in Dublin. Admiral Robert Murray died on 30 June 1834 at his residence, South Hill, near Liverpool, at the age of 71 and the rank of admiral of the white. ==Notes==