Dunmore, John Murray, earl of

Dunmore, John Murray, earl of

(1732–1809) royal governor; born in Scotland. As Virginia governor (1771–76) he offended patriot sympathies by twice dissolving the House of Burgesses. He led a campaign against the Shawnee Indians (1774) which was called Lord Dunmore's War. In 1775 he tried unsuccessfully to oppose the patriot movement in Virginia.