Moray, Sir Robert
Moray, Sir Robert (c.1609–73). Moray, the son of a Scottish laird from Perthshire, was soldier, scientist, and politician. He spent many years in the French service, acting as go-between for Charles I, who knighted him in 1643. He took part in Glencairn's rising in Scotland in 1654 before returning again to the continent, where he practised music and chemistry. After the Restoration, Moray took a prominent part in the foundation of the Royal Society, acted as president, and looked after Charles II's private laboratory in Whitehall. Until 1670 he also collaborated with Lauderdale in the government of Scotland where, sympathetic towards the presbyterians, he exercised a moderating influence on government policy. But most of his time was spent in London at the court. Burnet, Pepys, and Evelyn wrote of him with affection and respect, and John Aubrey paid a glowing tribute to his disinterestedness: ‘he was far from the rough humour of the camp breeding, for he was a person the most obliging about the court, and the only man that would doe a kindnesse gratis upon an account of friendship … as free from covetousness as a Carthusian.’
J. A. Cannon
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Moray, Sir Robert
