Richard Murray
1795 – 1799 (c.1726 - 1799)
Richard Murray was born in County Down, the son of a small shopkeeper.1 He entered Trinity College as a Sizar, but was elected Scholar in 1745 and Fellow in 1750. In 1764 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics. On the death of Provost Hely-Hutchinson in 1794, when the Government was proposing once more to appoint a Provost on purely political grounds, the Senior Fellows declared their unanimous support for Murray, and thanks to their firmness and the support of Edmund Burke, he was appointed in January 1795. He was an elderly and respected figure who had devoted his life to the service of the College. His brief tenure gave back to the Provostship the stability and general respect which it badly needed. Murray published in 1759 an elementary textbook on logic which remained in use for over a century.
Painting Details
By William Cuming
Oil on canvas