James Murray (architect)

His father James Murray (d.1615) was a gunner and wright in Edinburgh castle and made master wright in 1584.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-84, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 311 no. 1854. Murray senior was appointed Overseer of the King's Works in Scotland on 4 May 1601 and on the same day, James Murray younger was made principal master wright and gunner, as his father had been. The younger James was appointed Overseer in 1605, when his father resigned the post, and two years later was appointed principal Master of Works in Scotland, succeeding David Cunningham of Robertland.Colvin, p.567

In April 1603, Murray provided James VI with "certain billiards and billiard balls."[https://archive.org/details/letterstokingjam00mait/page/86/mode/2up Letters to King James the Sixth from the Queen, Prince Henry, Prince Charles etc (Edinburgh, 1835), p. lxxxvi] Murray and his wife Martha Murray were given a plot of land close to the back gate of Holyrood Palace in 1605, which they sold to the royal servants John Buchanan and Margaret Hartsyde in April 1606.John Maitland Thomson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 1634-1651 (Edinburgh, 1897), p. 466 no. 1242.

On 28 September 1608, Murray chased Finlay Taylor, a baillie of the Canongate, with a drawn sword in the Abbey Close near Holyroodhouse.Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1887), 166, 673. According to William Bowyer, Murray was "surveyor and builder" for the Earl of Dunbar's mansion on the site of Berwick Castle.Howard Colvin, History of the King's Works, 4:2 (London: HMSO, 1982), p. 771.

In 1612, Murray was granted land near Juniper Green, outside Edinburgh. Between 1622 and 1623, he designed and built Baberton House as his home here. The innovative symmetrical u-plan house still stands, although it was extended in the 18th century. Murray's initials, together with those of his wife, Katherine Weir, appear on the house.{{harv|Historic Environment Scotland|LB6129}}

King James gave orders for repairs to the royal palaces in Scotland in 1616, anticipating his visit in 1617. At Holyrood, Murray was to take down and repair the roof of the lodging above the outer gate called the Chancellor's Lodging, demolish the lodging in the Palace of Holyrood House called the Master Steward's chamber, rebuild Roger Aston's chamber and Chancellor Maitland's kitchen in the Duke's transe, and demolish lean-to buildings to improve the courtyard. At Stirling Castle, he was to demolish buildings between the inner and outer gate, re-roof the inner gate or fore-work, re-roof the king's kitchen, and rebuild the court kitchen, bakehouse, and pantry. At Falkland Palace, he was to re-roof the king's and queen's galleries overlooking the garden from the east quarter, make a bartisan or wall-walk on a new lead roof, and repair the whole palace, making repairs and new doorways and windows as required.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1613-1616, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1891), pp. 517-8.

The north range or quarter of Linlithgow Palace had collapsed in 1607. In February 1619 Murray received permission to demolish part of the remaining masonry adjacent to the north-west corner.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1894), p. 522. November 1619 there was a dispute amongst his workforce at Linlithgow, the Privy Council of Scotland intervened and the mason John Service was imprisoned in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and ten other masons were ordered to work for Murray under the conditions he set. Murray was asked by the Privy Council to calculate how much lead would be needed to cover the roof of the new north range at Linlithgow, and he arranged to buy 3,000 stone weight of lead from an Edinburgh merchant.Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1895), p. 120, 335.

In 1620 he was asked to investigate the scheme of Emanuell Meether who wanted to set up a glass manufactory in Edinburgh, and subsequently joined a commission to judge glass made at Wemyss.Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1895), pp. 374, 428, 439-40.

The accounts mention that Murray and the gardener William Watts were responsible for "platting and contriving his Majesty's new garden and orchard" at Stirling Castle in 1629.John Imrie & John Dunbar, Accounts of the Masters of Works, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1982), pp. 242-3. The garden includes a surviving octagonal mount called the King's Knot.Marilyn Brown, Scotland's Lost Gardens (Edinburgh, 2015), pp. 178-182.

Murray drew up plans for Parliament House in Edinburgh in 1633, and the building was constructed to his design over the following years, finally being completed in 1639.Balfour, Alan (2005), Creating a Scottish Parliament, Finlay Brown, Edinburgh, p. 135, {{isbn|9780955001604}} As Master of Works, he was also in charge of works at Linlithgow Palace, the reconstruction of Holyrood Palace prior to the coronation of Charles I, and additions to the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle. He is said to be the principal designer of Malleny House in Balerno, although the house was not completed until after his death.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB27172|desc=MALLENY HOUSE WITH WALLED GARDEN, BOTHY, IRONWORK, GATES, GATEPIERS, GREEN COTTAGE AND STABLES|cat=A|access-date=18 June 2022}}

In 1633, at the coronation of Charles I, Murray was knighted. He died in December of the following year.

• Colvin, Howard (1978) A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 John Murray
• McWilliam, Colin (1994) The Buildings of Scotland: Lothian, Penguin
• {{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB6129|desc=Baberton House, including gates, gatepiers and boundary walls|cat=A|access-date=28 March 2019}}

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{{succession box | title=Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland | before=David Cunninghame of Robertland | after=Anthony Alexander | years=1607–1634}}

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Category:Masters of work to the Crown of Scotland

Category:1634 deaths

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:17th-century Scottish architects

Category:People of Falkland Palace

Category:People of Linlithgow Palace