The eldest son of John Murray II (1778–1843) by Anne Elliott, daughter of Charles Elliot, the Edinburgh publisher, he was born on 16 April 1808.
When he was four years old his father moved the firm to 50 Albemarle Street, which became a meeting-place for men of letters.
He completed his education by foreign travel, in Weimar delivering the dedication of Lord Byron's Marino Faliero to Goethe.
He was a magistrate for Surrey, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and known as a member of the Athenæum Club.
After a preliminary service in St. James's, Piccadilly, he was buried on 6 April in the parish church at Wimbledon, where he had resided for nearly 50 years.