The papers relate to Murray's appointment at Stornoway and the anti-submarine tasks of the Auxiliary Patrol during the First World War. There are lists of ships lost, and those that engaged enemy submarines, together with accounts of the loss or surrender of submarines. There are also three manuscripts unrelated to the main collection, consisting of an order book of Captain Richard Grindall, 1801 to 1805; a Navy Prize Office register, 1803 to 1820, and a log of HMS REVENGE (1805), under the command of Captain Sir John Gore in the Mediterranean, 1812 to 1813.

Administrative / biographical background
Murray was the only surviving son of Charles James Murray, a Conservative Party politician, and Lady Anne Francesca Wilhelmina Murray née Finch. His parents took up residence at Courthill House on the Lochcarron estate in Scotland. Murray was educated at Eton College and Trinity College at Cambridge. Between 1918 and 1919, he was a temporary sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, serving as base intelligence officer on the staff of the rear-admiral at Stornaway in the Outer Hebrides. Later in life, Murray was a member of Ross and Cromarty Council and involved in the promotion of Highland village industries, including weaving. He died at Couldoran, Kishorn, Strathcarron, in 1945. A record of his service in the RNVR can be found under the reference ADM 337/126/605 at The National Archives.