William Murdock
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- For men with a similar name, see William Murdoch (disambiguation).
William Murdock (c.1720–1769) was an American statesman in colonial Maryland. During the tensions leading up to the American Revolution he was an important spokesman for the rights of the colonists. He was a delegate representing Maryland in the Stamp Act Congress of 1765.
William was born in Scotland, the son of Reverend George Murdock, who brought his family to Prince George's County, Maryland about 1726.
William Murdock represented Prince George's County in the Maryland Assembly almost continuously from 1745 to 1771. He became a leading proponent for the enforcement of the colonists rights against both the Proprietors and the Crown. In 1750, the Assembly adopted a set of Standing Resolves that stated those rights, and Murdock was one of their chief authors. The Resolves were renewed and expanded every year for the next twenty years. They became a clear statement of the ideas of government from first principles and were important to political thought throughout the colonies.
When protests over the Stamp Act resulted in calling a Congress of the several colonies in New York, the Assembly sent Murdock as one of their deputies. His voice and experience were an important factor in the Statement of Rights and Grievances produced by the Congress.
Murdock married Anne Addison, and the couple had eight children before she died in 1753. William died on October 17, 1769 at his home, Padsworth Farm, in Prince George County, Maryland.