Charles Augustus Murray
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Sir Charles Augustus Murray ( November 22, 1806 - June 3, 1895 ) was an English writer and diplomat . In addition to two novels set in the Orient , he wrote an adventure novel The Prairie-Bird , set in Jamaica and North America . Through this book he became an important representative of the "Wild West" literature in England.
Life
Charles Augustus Murray was the second son of the politician George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore (1762-1836) and his wife Lady Susan Hamilton (1774-1846), a daughter of Archibald Douglas-Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton and the Lady Harriet Stewart. Charles Augustus was educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford .
Murray spent several years (1835-1838) traveling through Europe and America, including a few months with the Pawnee Indian tribe . He wrote down his experiences in the book Travels in North America . On his return trip he met Elise Wadsworth, but her father was against this connection. The two only married after his death in 1849 - Elise Wadsworth died on December 8, 1851 of complications from childbed fever . Charles Augustus Murray stood three times as Member of Parliament and later received a position at the court of the young Queen Victoria .
In 1842 Murray was appointed as an English diplomat in Naples and worked between 1846 and 1853 as British Consul General in Cairo , where he was on friendly terms with the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt , Muhammad Ali Pascha . During his time in Egypt Murray pushed the construction of the railroad to Alexandria and also organized the transport of the hippopotamus Obaysch to England in 1850 , which earned him the name Hippopotamus – Murray .
In 1853 Charles Augustus Murray was envoy to Bern and shortly thereafter was appointed British ambassador to the court of the Shah of Persia , Nāser ad-Din Shah . A violent dispute broke out with the Shah over his bodyguard Hashim Khan. The center of this dispute were rumors about the wife of Hashim Khan, a sister-in-law of the Shah. Charles Augustus Murray took this as an insult to the British legation and broke off diplomatic relations in late 1855. Control of the city of Herat led to the British-Persian War (November 1, 1856 to April 4, 1857). After the war, Murray remained ambassador to Persia until 1859.
In November 1862, Murray was second married to the Hon. Edith Susan Esther FitzPatrick, daughter of the Irish politician John FitzPatrick, 1st Baron Castletown .
On June 23, 1866 Murray was knighted as Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the title "Sir". In 1875 he was in the Secret Privy Council ( Privy Council appointed).
Works
- The Red Indians of Newfoundland. A novel. Translated from English by Ernst Susemihl . 4 volumes. Chr. E. Kollmann, Leipzig 1858.
- Travels in North America . Richard Bentley Verlag, London 1839 ( full text in the Google book search).
- The Prairie Bird . Richard Bentley Verlag, London 1844 ( full text in Google book search).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Knights and Dames: MIG-OS at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Andrew Buchanan |
British envoy to Switzerland 1853–1854 |
George John Robert Gordon |
| William Taylour Thomson |
British envoy to Persia 1854-1859 |
William Doria |
| Francis Reginald Forbes |
British ambassador to Saxony 1859–1866 |
Joseph Hume Burnley |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Murray, Charles Augustus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Murray, Sir Charles Augustus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English writer and diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 22, 1806 |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 3, 1895 |