Alexander Edward Murray, 8th Earl of Dunmore (22 April 1871 – 29 January 1962), known by the courtesy title Viscount Fincastle until 1907, was a Scottish peer, soldier and politician.
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Early life and colonial military career
Murray was born on 22 April 1871 to Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore and Lady Gertrude Coke, immediately taking the courtesy title of Viscount Fincastle. His grandparents included Alexander Murray, 6th Earl of Dunmore, Lady Catherine Herbert, Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, and Juliana Whitbread. His paternal great-grandmother was the Russian noblewoman Countess Catherine Woronzoff (or Vorontsova), daughter of the Russian ambassador to St James's, Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov. He was educated privately and at Eton before joining the army.
On 30 May 1892, Murray was commissioned into the 16th Lancers and sent to India. Murray was aide-de-camp to Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, Governor-General of India from 1895 to 1897. In 1896, he accompanied the Dongola Expedition to the Sudan and saw action in the Mahdist War.