Author: Murray, Oliver James
Biography:
MURRAY, Oliver James (d 1791: findmypast.com)
No records of birth or baptism have been found despite his distinctive name, and nothing is known of his parentage. When, later in life, he was imprisoned in the King’s Bench for debt, the London Gazette gave his occupation as “gentleman.” There is no record of university or clerical training. He was almost certainly a Londoner all his life. At the time of his marriage to Mary Noone at her parish church of St. George’s, Hanover Square, in January 1770 (the date on the licence is 11 Jan.), his residence was at Isleworth, that is modern Hounslow, SW London. They had at least two sons, born in 1773 and 1776, but the elder died in infancy. Various addresses follow, as recorded in the lists of those imprisoned for debt in 1774, 1776, and 1784. The purpose of his only known publication, the loyal poem dedicated to the King that is described as “my first essay” in poetry, is unclear but it might be no more than the author declares: “The love of Freedom strings my feeble Muse.” He died and was buried at Chiswick on 12 May 1791. (findmypast.com 27 July 2023; ancestry.com 27 July 2023; London Gazette [various issues]) HJ