Ian Murray

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Ian Murray, Sr. is a former soldier and the husband of Jenny Murray. He grew up in Lallybroch with his father, John Murray, and was very close to Jamie Fraser, the future laird of Lallybroch.

Personal History

Early Life

Ian Murray was born in 1720 to John Murray and his wife. He grew up in Lallybroch (Broch Tuarach), Scotland with his best friend Jamie Fraser. Together the two of them would often get into trouble and both had strong memories of the punishments. In his teens Ian joined the army where after years of fighting he was seriously injured in a battle at Daumier were he was serving with Jamie and Fergus nic Leodhas and he had to have the lower part of his right leg (below the knee) removed after an infection of a grape shot.

Marriage to Jenny

Ian married Janet "Jenny" Fraser, sister to Jamie Fraser, in 1740 shortly after her brother was imprisoned and her father died. Ian had returned from war having lost part of his leg; Jenny came up to him while he was working and kissed him; and told him that they would get married. Ian was impressed, as he didn't think he would marry considering he was no longer a "whole man". Ian and Jenny had a close relationship due to their growing up together (she is only a year older than Ian) and they had a great understanding of each other. Since her father had died, Jamie should have become the Laird of Broch Tuarach, but since he was in prison, Ian managed the estate for him. Not long into their marriage, the two welcomed their first child, James Alexander Gordon Fraser Murray, named after his uncle and lovingly known as Jamie or Young Jamie.

Events of the Novels

Outlander

Ian, along with Jenny, is introduced when Jamie returns to Lallybroch with his new wife, Claire. Jamie hasn't seen Ian or Jenny since before they were married, and the reunion is quite tense at first, between Jamie's mistaken assumptions and the stubbornness of both Frasers. Claire's initial impression of Ian is that he has a mild and unassuming manner, though with an undeniable authority when such is called for.

Eventually, the four grow close while Jamie and Claire live at Lallybroch. Ian and Jenny incorporate Jamie into the running of the estate once he returns, and he and Claire live with them for some time. Just months later, however, Jamie is kidnapped and sent to prison, which leaves Ian and Jenny to run the estate.

Dragonfly in Amber

Ian is the first to greet Jamie and Claire when they return to Lallybroch from Paris, informing them that Jenny's due to have another baby in February. She and Ian welcome a second daughter, Katherine "Kitty" Mary Murray, in early 1744. In the autumn, when the potato crop is ready for harvesting, Ian takes it in hand to consult a special volume concerned with planting, which he has used ever since planting the potato crop. The harvest is a success, leaving Ian pleased with this new bounty.

After months of peaceful life at Lallybroch, Jamie receives a letter from Prince Charles announcing that he, the prince, has taken the liberty of signing Jamie's name on a document declaring rebellion against the crown. Thus, when Jamie has to raise a company of men for Prince Charles' army, Jenny begs Jamie to take Ian with him. She worries for Ian's sense of self-worth as a man, which has been more fragile since the loss of his leg. Jamie reluctantly agrees, and starts by ordering Ian to join his company. Ian, completely baffled, scoffs at the idea, and in the course of shouting at each other, Jamie challenges Ian to an arm wrestling match to prove who is stronger. After a brief, earnest go at it, though, the men break out into laughter and call it a tie. In the end, Jamie asks Ian to go with him, but Ian refuses, pledging to take care of Jenny and the estate in his absence.

Voyager

After the Rising, Ian was often arrested by the English, who wanted to seize the Broch Tuarach estate on the grounds that it belonged to a Jacobite traitor. Because Jamie had had the forethought to have a deed of sasine written and signed before rebellion had been declared, the estate actually belonged to Jenny and Ian's son, Young Jamie. Still, the crown would try their luck by taking Ian away to be tried in court, and at least once was imprisoned in the Tolbooth in Edinburgh. The English were always unsuccessful, though, and the family retained ownership of Lallybroch.

Lallybroch suffered after the Rising, as most of the Scottish Highlands did during that time, but its tentants faired better than most. Ian and Jenny had a few more children during these years: around 1747-1748, Jenny gave birth to a set of twins, Michael and Janet Ellen Murray, and in 1749 Jenny gave birth prematurely to another daughter, Caitlin Maisri, who died within a day. Seeing the baby's birth recorded in the family Bible as December 3, Jamie recalls the redcoats' raid on the house on December 2, wondering if this attack was to blame for Jenny's premature labor. Two years after the birth of their sixth child, Ian was once again being held by the British crown, when Jenny gave birth to their youngest child, Ian James FitzGibbons Fraser Murray.

Ian and Jenny continued raising their six children; although they often had trouble with young Ian, who had a lust for adventure that could not be contained by a peaceful life on a farm. In 1766, Ian and Jenny were shocked at the return of Claire; they had assumed that she'd died during the Rising, though Jamie had never explicitly told them what happened to her.

Drums of Autumn

A few years after Jamie and Claire left to rescue Young Ian, Ian and Jenny are shocked at the arrival of their niece, Brianna, whose existence they hadn't known about. The family is delighted to have her with them, though, and the day after Brianna's arrival, Ian starts to wear his kilt again, to Jenny's amazement. He shows Brianna around Lallybroch, and even suggests that Lallybroch might rightfully be hers. She immediately dismisses the notion, insisting that only came to find her parents.

The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes

The Murrays kept in regular contact with the Frasers even though the difficulty of sending letters.

An Echo in the Bone

Unbeknownst to either Jamie or Claire, Ian contracted consumption (psithsis) while being held in the Tolbooth in Edinburgh after Culloden, although it did not become debilitating until close to thirty years later. When Jamie and Claire finally return to Scotland in 1777, they find that Ian, although gentle and cheerful as always, has entered the final phase of the disease. Jenny asks Claire to heal Ian, but the sickness has progressed too far, and Claire's helpless "no" causes a rift between the two women. A short time later, Ian dies, surrounded by his family and holding Jamie's hand, on March 10, 1778.

Name

• Ian is the modern Scottish variant of the name John.
  • John is the English form of Iohannes, the Latin form of the Greek name Ιωαννης (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan) meaning "YAHWEH is gracious".
• Murray is derived from the region in Scotland called Moray meaning "seaboard settlement".

TV Series

Main: Outlander (TV series)

Scottish actor Steven Cree will portray Ian Murray in the Outlander television adaptation.