author
Henry A. (Henry Anthony) Murray
1810–1865
A Royal Navy captain and travel writer, he left behind a vivid 1850s account of Cuba, the United States, and Canada at a time when slavery shaped public life and politics. His writing blends the eye of a traveler with the concerns of a British officer watching North America closely.
1 Audiobook
Lands of the Slave and the Free; Or, Cuba, the United States, and Canada
by Henry A. (Henry Anthony) Murray
About the author
Born on January 10, 1810, Henry Anthony Murray was a British naval officer, the third son of George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore. He entered the Royal Navy in 1823, passed his examination in 1829, and rose through the ranks to become a captain.
Murray is best remembered as the author of Lands of the Slave and the Free; Or, Cuba, the United States, and Canada, published in the mid-1850s. Drawing on his travels, the book looks at North American society through a British lens and pays particular attention to slavery, politics, and everyday life. For modern readers, it offers both a travel narrative and a period snapshot of a continent in tension.
He died on February 17, 1865. While not widely known today, his work remains of interest to readers exploring nineteenth-century travel writing, Atlantic history, and contemporary outside views of the United States and Cuba.