Virginia. Governor (1771-1775 : Dunmore)

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – February 25, 1809), was a British peer and colonial governor. Murray succeeded his father in the earldom in 1756 and sat as a Scottish Representative Peer in the House of Lords from 1761 to 1774 and from 1776 to 1790. He was the British governor of the Province of New York from 1770 to 1771 and the Virginia Colony, from September 25, 1771 until his departure to New York on New Years Eve, 1776. During his term as Virginia's colonial governor, he directed a series of campaigns against the Indians known as Lord Dunmore's War. The Shawnee were the main target of these attacks, and his purpose was to strengthen Virginia's claims in the west, particularly in the Ohio Country. However, some have accused him of colluding with the Shawnees and arranging the war to deplete the Virginia militia and help safeguard the Loyalist cause, should there be a colonial rebellion.

From the guide to the Speech to the General Assembly at Williamsburg, Va., 1775 June 1, (John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – February 25, 1809), was Governor of the Virginia Colony, from September 25, 1771 until his departure to New York on New Years Eve, 1776. During his term as Virginia's colonial governor, he directed a series of campaigns against the Indians known as Lord Dunmore's War. From 1774 on, Dunmore was continually clashing with the Colonial Assembly. He left Williamsburg on June 8, 1775, retreating to his hunting lodge, Porto Bello, and had to take refuge on the British warship Fowey in the York River when the American Revolutionary War began. When he realized he could not regain control in Virginia, he returned to Britain in July 1776.

From the guide to the Land Grant, 1775 July 5, (John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)