The Murrays of Touchadam and Polmaise
The arms of the Murrays of Touchadam and Polmaise have never changed; they remain the same as the Bothwell arms of 1361, so that if the question of chiefship were to be decided by the heraldic evidence alone, the family of Touchadam would beat every other competitor out of the field. The Murray family of Touchadam and Polmaise can be traced back to Sir William of Moravia, who was captured by the English in 1306 and released in 1314. Sir William Murray of Touchadam is pictured below [left] in a black doublet with lace collar and cuffs. The family were loyal to the Jacobite cause. The descent of the Murrays of Touchadam and Polmaise from the Morays of Bothwell and their claim founded on this descent to be the older branch and head of the Clan, is something of which any family might well be proud. The other competitors for the chiefship, namely the Morays of Abercairney and the Dukes of Atholl, descended from Murray of Tullibardine.
Few people now remember the Scots Baronial mansion house of Polmaise Castle, beautifully situated on the Gillies Hill with its historic association with Bruce and the battle of Bannockburn, and commanding magnificent views of Stirling Castle, but its history is worth revisiting. The original Murray house was known as Touchadam Castle located to the west of Gillies Hill near Gartur. Only its ruins remain today. In 1673, Murrays Hall was built beneath the western craig of Gillies Hill as a gift from the Laird to his son.
The Murray family of Touchadam and Polmaise were already wealthy landowners in the 18th-century and the discovery of a rich seam of coal under their estate made them even richer. The ruined Polmaise Castle set in the middle of Gillies Hill was built for £30,000 by Colonel John Murray, 23rd Laird of Touchadam and Polmaise, on his return from the Crimean War. On 6th August 1868, Polmaise Castle being completed, Colonel and Lady Agnes Murray left what became known as Old Polmaise, and took up their new abode built in the Fir Park above Cambusbarron, with towers and turrets and on a scale to rival every other country house in the area. There is little trace of the family now remaining except the private family cemetery. Alastair John Greville Murray pictured below [right] was born on 22nd July 1894, the only son of Major Alastair Murray and Mary Murray. He was killed in action at the Battle of the Aisne on 14th September 1914. In July 1966, Polmaise Castle was blown up by the army long after the death of the Murray's only son and heir in the First World War.
William Murray of Touchadam and Polmaise (1679-1758) succeeded his nephew in 1729 and married secondly in 1738 Elizabeth Gibson who provided him with three sons and a daughter, the eldest being William who succeeded him in 1758 at the age of 14. In the first volume of Chinese Armorial Porcelain the date of a poreclain service (Qianlong circa 1750, with the arms of Murray of Touchadam and Polmaise in Stirlingshire) is given as 1755 and there was uncertainty because of this date as to whether it was made for father or son. However, new evidence makes it clear that the service is slightly earlier than previously thought and was in fact brought home on the 1749/50 China voyage of the East Indiaman Prince Edward, which was in Canton in 1750 under the command of Captain Robert Haldane, related by marriage to William’s sister Margaret, and brought back as a gift to William by his nephew, John Murray, a Surgeon in the East India Company. Letters in the Stirling Archives between William Murray senior and his brother George, a surgeon, reveal that William is sponsoring his nephew’s education but, in the way of teenagers, young John is becoming worryingly dissolute. His father George reports in 1742 that: “..I am informed he has got into that very Gentelmany qualification, Gameing, and I suppose Drinking etc will soon follow, 11, 12 at night, 1 or 2 in the morning are his ordinary hours to arrive home …. He values us as much as an old broom stick...”. His behaviour is no better several months later when he leaves his studies claiming pressing business, described in another letter from his father to William: “I believe the Hurry of his bussiness was the Golf in the day time and his cardes at Night …” Later letters from John himself to his long-suffering uncle are full of remorse and apologies, and by the late 1740s, after a false start in the army, he has qualified as a surgeon and joined the East India Company. Extract from a letter from John Murray to his uncle, William Murray, dated London, 16th August 1751: "I have brought from China a Sett with the arms for my aunt, & another of bowls & Muggs for you, which I beg you will accept as a small acknowledgement for the many obligations & favours I have received. As to my own affairs I must own the voyage has succeeded better than first expected. I have made all the applications possible to get out with the first ships, but had the notification then to find they were all provided with Surgeons before our arrival, so must wait till the next season. Captain Haldane, who has been very kind, both to my younger cousins & me during the passage, has promised all his interest, as this is a very expensive place. If I must wait so long, I intend, with your consent, to come down to Scotland as soon as my affair is decided. My most sincere complements to my aunt & the family. I am, Dear Sir, Your affectionate nephew & obliged humble servant, John Murray". William’s nephew, John Murray, was not to find a posting for another nine years when he joined the Latham on her 1759/60 voyage to India, and then on her 1762/3 longer voyage to India and China, both under the command of Captain James Moffat. The ship arrived back in July 1765 but John Murray died in May that year en route for home.
Reference: Howard, David S.; Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Volume I, p.537 (but information amended above). CAP Volume I for information relating to various services brought back from China by Captain Robert Haldane and Captain James Moffat.