GRANT,
a surname derived from the french word grand, great or
valorous. There is scarcely a name in Scotland about the origin of
which there have been so many conjectures, and although the first
persons of this surname in Britain are stated, with more or less
plausibility, to have come from Denmark and from Ireland, it is
certain that they originally came from Normandy, into England, where
many persons of the name appear to have held public employments before
the surname was known in Scotland. In 1229 Richard grant was made
archbishop of Canterbury. The English chroniclers of that time,
writing in Latin, call him Richardus Magnuus, that is, Richard Grand
or Great, taking Grant to be the same with the French grand and
the Latin magnuus.
The Gaelic
derivation of the surname is not only fictitious but absurd. According
to the received dictum of the Gaelic genealogists, the founder of the
clan Grant is said to have been Gregor, second son of Malcolm chief of
the MacGregors, (living in 1160), who, from his ungainly appearance,
bore the designation of grannda, ill-favoured, hence the name
of the clan Grant. Dr. John MacPherson, however, as quoted by Logan,
has a far more improbably hypothesis as to the origin of the name. He
derives it from an extensive moor in Strathspey, the country of the
Grants, called Griantach, otherwise Sliabh Griannais, or
the plain of the Sun, the many Druidical remains scattered over it
indicating it to have been a place consecrated to the worship of that
luminary, the great object of Celtic adoration, and the crest borne by
the name of Grant, a burning mount, is referred to as representing the
Baal-teine, or fire raised in honour of the Celtic deity. This would
give the clan and the name a settlement in Strathspey as ancient as
the days of the Druids, for which no evidence whatever exists.
The first of
the name on record in Scotland is Gregory de Grant who, in the reign
of Alexander the Second (1214 to 1249), was sheriff of the shire in
Inverness, which then, and till 1583, comprehended Ross, Sutherland,
and Caithness, besides what is now Inverness-shire. By his marriage
with Mary, daughter of Sir John Bizet of Lovat, he became possessed of
the lands of Stratherrick, at that period a part of the province of
Moray, and had two sons, namely, Sir Lawrence, his heir; and Robert,
who appears to have succeeded his father as sheriff of Inverness.
The elder
son, Sir Lawrence de Grant, with his brother Robert, witness to an
agreement, dated 9th September, 1258, between Archibald,
bishop of Moray, and John Bizet of Lovat, is particularly mentioned as
the friend and kinsman of the latter. Chalmers (Caledonia, vol.
I. P. 596) states that he married Bigla, the heiress of Comyn of
Glenchernach, and obtained his father-in-law’s estates in Strathspey,
and a connection with the most potent family in Scotland. Douglas,
however, in his Baronage, (p. 321) says that she was the wife of his
elder son, John. He had two sons, Sir John and Rudolph. They supported
the interest of Bruce against Baliol, and were taken prisoners in
1296, at the battle of Dunbar. After Baliol’s surrender of his crown
and kingdom to Edward, the English monarch, with his victorious army,
marched north as far as Elgin. On his return to Berwick he received
the submission of many of the Scottish barons, whose names were
written upon four large rolls of parchment, still extant, called the
Ragman Roll. Most of them were dismissed on their swearing allegiance
to him, among whom was Rudolph de Grant, but his brother, John de
Grant, was carried to London. He was released the following year, on
condition of serving King Edward in France, John Comyn of Badenoch
being his surety on the occasion. Robert de Grant, who also swore
fealty to Edward the First in 1296, is supposed to have been his
uncle.
At the
accession of Robert the Bruce in 1306, the Grants do not seem to have
been very numerous in Scotland; but as the people of Strathspey, which
from that period was known as “the country of the Grants,” came to
form a clan, with their name, they soon acquired the position and
power of Highland chiefs.
Sir John had
three sons: Sir John, who succeeded him; Sir Allan, progenitor of the
clan Allan, a tribe of the grants, of whom the Grants of Auchernick
are the head; and Thomas, ancestor of some families of the name. The
eldest son, Sir John, on 9th July, 1333, was a commander in
the right wing of the Scottish army at the battle of Halidonhill,
under Randolf, earl of Moray, in whose charter from Robert the Bruce,
dated in 1313, all the barons and chiefs within the earldom, extending
then from Speymouth to Lorn, were bound to follow the king’s standard.
His son,
John de Grant, was in 1359, one of the three ambassadors sent to
France, to renew the ancient league with that country. He was also
frequently employed in negotiations with England. He had a son, and a
daughter, Agnes, married to Sir Richard Comyn, ancestor of the
Cummings of Altyre.
The son, Sir
Robert de grant, in the beginning of the reign of Robert the Second,
according to a MS. History of the family, fought and vanquished an
English champion of undaunted courage and unusual strength of body. In
1385, when the king of France, then at war with Richard the Second,
remitted to Scotland a subsidy of 40,000 French crowns, to induce the
Scots to invade England, Sir Robert de Grant was one of the principal
barons, about twenty in all, among whom the money was divided. He died
in the succeeding reign.
At this pint
there is some confusion in the pedigree of the Grants. The family
papers state that the male line was continued by the son of Sir
Robert, named Malcolm, who soon after his father’s death, began to
make a figure as chief of the clan. On the other hand some writers
maintain that Sir Robert had no son, but a daughter, Maude, or
Matilda, heiress of the estate, and lineal representative of the
family of Grant, who about the year 1400 married Andrew Stewart, son
of Sir John Stewart, commonly called the Black Stewart, sheriff of
Bute, and son of King Robert the Second, and that this Andrew sunk the
royal name, and assumed instead the name and arms of Grant. This
marriage, however, though supported by the tradition of the country,
is not acknowledged by the family or the clan, and the very existence
of such an heiress is denied.
Malcolm de
Grant, above mentioned, had a son, Duncan de Grant, the first designed
of Freuchie, the family title for several generations. By his wife,
Muriel, a daughter of Macintosh of Macintosh, chief of the clan
Chattan, he had, with a daughter, two sons, John and Patrick. The
latter, by his elder son, John, was ancestor of the Grants of
Ballindalloch, county of Elgin, of whom afterwards, and of those of
Tomnavonlen, Tulloch, &c.; and by his younger son, Patrick, of the
Grants of Dunlugas in Banffshire.
Duncan’s
elder son, John Grant of Freuchie, with a body of his clan, joined the
Gordons, Forbeses, Frasers, and other loyal clans, who were upon their
march to the assistance of King James the Third in 1488, but arrived
too late, the battle of Sauchieburn having been fought, and that
unfortunate monarch foully murdered. By his wife, Margaret, daughter
of Sir James Ogilvy of Deskford, ancestor of the earls of Findlater,
he had, with a daughter, married to her cousin, Hector, son of the
chief of Macintosh, three sons: John, his heir; Peter or patrick, said
to be the ancestor of the tribe Phadrig, or house of Tullochgorum; and
Duncan, progenitor of the tribe called clan Donachie, or house of
Garetnbeg. By the daughter of Baron Stewart of Kincardine, he had
another son, also named John, ancestor of the Grants of Glenmoriston.
His eldest
son, John, the tenth laird, called, from his poetical talents, the
Bard, succeeded in 1508. He obtained four charters under the great
seal, all dated 3d December 1509, of various lands, among which were
Urquhart and Glenmoriston in Inverness-shire. The latter is remarkable
as the place where Dr. Johnson, in visiting it in 1774, first
conceived the thought of his ‘Tour to the Hebrides.’ James the Fourth,
when projecting the war with England which ended so disastrously at
Flodden, took John Grant of Freuchie bound to give him “the aid of
three knights with all the serviceable men of the Grant clan at any
convocation of the lieges by hi or his successors, within or without
the kingdom, for the purposes of war.” He had three sons; John, the
second son, was ancestor of the Grants of Shogglie, and of those of
Corrimony in Urquhart, from the first of which lineally descended
Charles Grant, the eminent East India Director, of whom a memoir
follows, and other families of the name. The younger son, Patrick, was
progenitor of the Grants of Bonhard in Perthshire. John the Bard died
in 1525.
His eldest
son, James Grant of Freuchie, called from his daring character,
Shemas nan Creach, or James the Bold, was much employed, during
the reign of King James the Fifth, in quelling insurrections in the
northern counties. His lands in Urquhart were, in November 1513,
plundered and laid waste by the adherents of the lord of the Isles,
and again in 1544 by the Clanranald, when his castle of Urquhart was
taken possession of. On the latter occasion, at the head of his clan,
he joined the earl of Huntly’s expedition against the Clanranald, and
on the supposed suppression of the latter he returned with the earl
into Strathspey. It was immediately after this that the Frasers of
Lovat met with so bloody a defeat at the battle of Kinloch-lochy,
called by the Highlanders “The Field of Shirts.” This chief of the
Grants was in such high favour with King James the Fifth that he
obtained from that monarch a charter, dated in 1535, exempting him
from the jurisdiction of all the courts of judicature, except the
court of session, then newly instituted. He died in 1553. He had, with
two daughters, two sons, John and Archibald; the latter the ancestor
of the Grants of Cullen, Monymusk, &c.
His elder
son, John, usually called Evan Baold, or the Gentle, was a
strenuous promoter of the Reformation, and was a member of that
parliament which, in 1560, abolished popery as the established
religion in Scotland. He died in 1585, having been twice married,
first, to Margaret Stewart, daughter of the earl of Athol, by whom he
had, with two daughters, two sons, Duncan and Patrick, the latter
ancestor of the Grants of Rothiemurchus; and, secondly, to a daughter
of Barclay of Towie, by whom he had an only son, Archibald, ancestor
of the Grants of Bellintomb, represented by the Grants of Monymusk.
Duncan, the
elder son, predeceased his father in 1581, leaving four sons: John;
Patrick, ancestor of the Grants of Easter Elchies, of which family was
Patrick Grant, Lord Elchies, a lord of session, afterwards noticed;
Robert, progenitor of the Grants of Lurg; and James, of Ardnellie,
ancestor of those of Moyness.
John, the
eldest son, succeeded his grandfather, in 1585, and was much employed
in public affairs. In 1590, when the council passed an act for
apprehending Jesuits, popish priests, and excommunicated persons, he
was appointed one of the committee of noblemen and gentlemen for
executing that act. Four years thereafter he joined the king’s
general, the young earl of Argyle, against the popish earls of Huntly
and Errol. A large body of his clan, at the battle of Glenlivet, was
commanded by John Grant of Gartenbeg, to whose treachery, in having in
terms of a concerted plan, retreated with his men as soon as the
action began, as well as to that of Campbell of Lochnell, Argyle owed
his defeat in that engagement. This laird of Grant greatly extended
and improved his paternal estates, and is said to have been offered by
James the Sixth, in 1610, a patent of honour, but which he declined.
In 1614 he was one of the jury on whose verdict Patrick Stewart, earl
of Orkney, was beheaded for treason. From the Shaws he purchased the
lands of Rothiemurchus, which he exchanged with his uncle Patrick for
the lands of Muchrach. On his marriage with Lilias Murray, daughter of
John, earl of Athol, the nuptials were honoured with the presence of
King James the Sixth and his queen. Besides a son and daughter by his
wife, he had a natural son, Duncan, progenitor of the Grants of Cluny.
He died in 1622.
His son, Sir
John, by his extravagance and attendance at court, greatly reduced his
estates, and when he was knighted he got the name of “Sir John
Sell-the-land.” He had eight sons and three daughters, and dying at
Edinburgh in April 1637, was buried at the abbey church of
Holyroodhouse.
His elder
son, James, joined the Covenanters on the north of the Spey in 1638,
and on 19th July 1644, was, by the estates, appointed one
of the committee for trying the malignants in the north. After the
battle of Inverlochy, however, in the following year, he joined the
standard of the marquis of Montrose, then in arms for the king, and
ever after remained faithful to the royal cause. In consequence of his
defection a detachment from the garrison of Inverness plundered the
house of Elchies, carrying off his lady’s wearing apparel, trinkets,
and jewels, of which, says Spalding, “she had store.” After the
restoration he was a member of the Scots estates that met in 1661. In
1663, he again went to Edinburgh, to see justice done to his kinsman,
Allan Grant of Tulloch, in a criminal prosecution for manslaughter, in
which he was successful, but died in that city soon after his arrival
there. A patent had been made out creating him earl of Strathspey, and
Lord Grant of Freuchie and Urquhart, but in consequence of his death
it did not pass the seals. The patent itself is said to be preserved
in the family archives. He had two sons, Ludovick and Patrick, the
latter ancestor of the family of Western Elchies on Speyside.
Ludovick,
the elder son, being a minor, was placed under the guardianship of his
uncle, Col. Patrick Grant, who faithfully discharged his trust, and so
was enabled to remove some of the burdens on the encumbered family
estates. Ludovick Grant of Grant and Freuchie, took for his first wife
Janet, only child of Alexander Brodie of Lethen, who, in 1685, was
fined forty thousand pounds Scots, on account of the favour shown by
him to the persecuted presbyterians. This fine was given by King James
the seventh to the popish college at Douay. By the favour of his
father-in-law the laird of Grant was enabled to purchase the barony of
Pluscardine, which was always to descend to the second son. For
favouring the Covenanters he was himself fined in forth-two thousand
five hundred pounds Scots, but he contrived to put off payment from
time to time, till the Revolution relieved him of it. In 1686, being
then a member of the estates, when the court proposed the repeal of
the statutes against popery, he was one of the few patriots who
publicly protested against the measure, and insisted that his protest
should be put on record. At the Revolution, he was a member of the
convention which met at Edinburgh, n 14th July, 1689, and
was one of the committee nominated by the estates for settling the
government. By King William he was appointed colonel of a regiment of
foot, and sheriff of Inverness. After the battle of Killiecrankie he
joined Colonel Sir Thomas Livingston’s force, which gave such a check
to the Jacobite Highlanders at Cromdale, on 1st May that
year, that they soon after dispersed. On this occasion Livingston’s
main body was led by some gentlemen of the name of Grant. In 1690 he
was one of the committee appointed by parliament to visit the
universities, and to turn out all insufficient, immoral, or disloyal
professors. In 1700 he raised a regiment of his own clan, being the
only commoner that did so, and kept his regiment in pay a whole year
at his own expense. In compensation, three of his sons got commissions
in the army, and his lands were erected into a barony. With respect to
his father-in-law Lethen’s fine, half of which he had paid, as he
obtained in right of his wife a portion of that estate, he was
referred to the committee for rescinding fines, and although an act
was made in his favour, the Douay fine was never recovered. He died at
Edinburgh in 1718, in his 66th year, and, with his father
and grandfather, was buried in Holyrood abbey.
Alexander,
his eldest son, after studying the civil law on the continent, entered
the army, and soon obtained the command of a regiment of foot, with
the rank of brigadier. He was early returned to parliament, and in
1706 was one of the commissioners to treat of the union between the
two kingdoms. He was a member of the first five British parliaments,
and supported the measures of government until about 1710, when a
Jacobite ministry came into power. In 1711, when the great duke of
Argyle was deprived of all his places, Brigadier Grant, who is stated
to have been his inseparable companion, lost his regiment, but in
1714, on the accession of George the First, both were restored to
their former appointments. In 1715, on the failure of Lord Drummond’s
attempt to surprise the castle of Edinburgh, and the imprisonment of
Colonel Stuart, the deputy-governor, for remissness of duty on the
occasion, Brigadier Grant had that important office committed to him.
When the rebellion broke out, being with his regiment in the south, he
wrote to his brother, Captain George Grant, to raise the clan for the
service of government, which he did, and a portion of them assisted at
the reduction of Inverness. In October of the same year, when a body
of the insurgents, under Mackintosh of Borlum, took possession of
Leith, he attended the duke of Argyle as a volunteer, and aided in
causing them to evacuate that place. In the following month he
accompanied his grace to the battle of Sheriffmuir, although his
regiment was not in the action. He was soon after made governor of
Sheerness, but in 1716, on a change of ministry he lost that office.
As justiciary of the counties of Inverness, Moray, and Banff, he was
successful in suppressing the bands of outlaws and robbers which
infested these counties in that unsettled time. He succeeded his
father in 1718, but died at Leith the following year, aged 40. Though
twice married, he had no children.
His brother,
Sir James Grant of Pluscardine, was the next laird. In 1702, in his
father’s lifetime, he married Anne, only daughter of Sir Humphrey
Colquhoun of Luss, baronet. By the marriage contract it was specially
provided that he should assume the surname and arms of Colquhoun, and
if he should at any time succeed to the estate of Grant, his second
son should, with the name of Colquhoun, become proprietor of Luss. In
1704 Sir Humphrey obtained a new patent in favour of his son-in-law,
James Grant, who on his death, in 1715, became in consequence Sir
James Grant Colquhoun of Luss, baronet. On succeeding, however, to the
estate of Grant four years after, he dropped the name of Colquhoun,
retaining the baronetcy, and the estate of Luss went to his second
surviving son (see COLQUHOUN, surname of). Sir James was for several
years M.P. for the county of Inverness, and generally supported the
government. In his latter years he retired very much from public
business. Although the chief of the Grants had represented the county
of Inverness ever since the union, and no flaw could be found in their
loyalty, at the general election following the battle of Culloden,
President Forbes brought forward the laird of MacLeod in opposition to
Sir James, who was elected for the Cullen and Banff burghs. He died,
soon after, on January 16, 1747. With five daughters, he had as many
sons, viz. Humphrey, who predeceased him in 1732; Ludovick, of whom
afterwards; James, a major in the army, who succeeded to the estate
and baronetcy of Luss, and took the name of Colquhoun; Francis, who
died a general in the army; and Charles, a captain R.N.
The second
son, Ludovick, was admitted advocate in 1728; but on the death of his
brother, he relinquished his practice at the bar, and his father
devolving on him the management of the estate, he represented him
thereafter as chief of the clan. During the rebellion of 1745 he gave
his support to the government, and when the duke of Cumberland arrived
at Aberdeen he waited on him there, and was very well received. He was
M.P. for Morayshire from 1741 until 1761, with his son, James, was
elected in his stead. He was twice married; first, to a daughter of
Sir Robert Dalrymple of North Berwick, by whom he had a daughter, who
died young; secondly, to Lady Margaret Ogilvie, eldest daughter of
James earl of Findlater and Seafield, in virtue of which marriage his
grandson succeeded to the earldom of Seafield. By his second wife Sir
Ludovick had one son, James, and eleven daughters, six of whom
survived him. Penuel, the third of these, was the wife of Henry
Mackenzie, Esq., author of the ‘Man of Feeling,’ and mother of Joshua
Henry Mackenzie, a lord of session, who died in 1852; and Helen, the
fifth, married Sir Alexander Penrose Cumming Gordon of Altyre and
Gordonstown, baronet. Sir Ludovick died at Castle Grant, 18th
March 1773.
His only
son, Sir James Grant of Grant, baronet, burn in 1738, was
distinguished for his patriotism and public spirit. Besides
representing the county of Murray in parliament, as already mentioned,
he was subsequently for some time a member for Banff. On the
declaration of war by France in 1793, he was among the first to raise
a regiment of fencibles, called the Grant or Strathspey fencibles, of
which he was appointed colonel. It continued embodied till 1799, and
was quartered successively in most of the towns in the south of
Scotland. In 1794 he raised another corps, a regiment of the line,
called the 97th or Strathspey regiment, of which he was
also appointed colonel. It was immediately marched to the south of
England, and sent on board Lord Howe’s fleet in the Channel, in which
it served as marines for a few months. In autumn 1795, it was drafted
into other regiments, the two flank corps being incorporated with the
42d, then about to embark for the West Indies.
In 1784,
when the Highland Society of Edinburgh was instituted, Sir James was
one of the original office-bearers. In 1794 he was appointed
lord-lieutenant of Inverness-shire, which office he was compelled by
ill health, to resign in 1809, when his son was nominated his
successor. In 1795 he was appointed cashier to the excise, when he
vacated his seat in parliament. After a lingering illness he died at
Castle Grant on 18th February 1811. He had married in 1793,
Jean, only child of Alexander Duff, Esq. of Hatton, Aberdeenshire, and
had by her three sons and three daughters. Sir Lewis Alexander Grant,
the eldest son, in 1811 succeeded to the estates and earldom of
Seafield, on the death of his cousin James earl of Findlater and
Seafield, and his brother, Francis William, became in 1840, sixth
earl. The younger children obtained in 1822 the rank and precedency of
an earl’s junior issue (see SEAFIELD, Earl of).
The Grants
of Ballindalloch, in the parish of Inveraven, Banffshire, – commonly
called the Craig-Achrochcan Grants, – as already stated, descend from
Patrick, twin brother of John, ninth laird of Freuchie. Patrick’s
grandson, John Grant, was killed by his kinsman, John Roy Grant of
Carron, as afterwards mentioned, and his son, John Roy Grant, by his
extravagant living and unhappy differences with his lady, a daughter
of Leslie of Balquhain, entirely ruined his estate, and was obliged to
consent to placing it under the management and trust of three of his
kinsmen, Brigadier Grant, Captain Grant of Elchies, and Walter Grant
of Arndilly, which gave occasion to W. Elchies’ verses of “What meant
the man?”
Several of
the latter lairds of Ballindalloch were officers in the army. Colonel
William Grant of Ballindalloch raised one of the five companies that
composed the Black Watch, afterwards embodied in the 42d regiment.
General James Grant of Ballindalloch succeeded to the estate on the
death of his nephew, Major William Grant, in 1770. After having
studied the law, he entered the army as an ensign in 1741, at the age
of 22, and in 1747, when captain, he was aide-de-camp to General St.
Clair, on his embassy to Vienna. He afterwards served both in the
Netherlands and in America, and held several important commands during
the American war. He was second in command to Lord Albermarle at the
taking of the Havannah, defeated Count d’Estaing, with an inferior
force, conquered St. Lucia in 1779, and was for many years governor of
East Florida. He was subsequently governor of Dumbarton castle, and in
1789 appointed to that of Stirling castle. He was colonel first of the
5th, and afterwards of the 11th regiment of
foot, and was for many years M.P. for the county of Sutherland. He was
noted for his fondness for good living, and in his latter years became
very corpulent. He died at Ballindalloch on 13th April,
1806, at the age of 86. Having no children, he was succeeded by his
maternal grand-nephew, George Macpherson, Esq., of Invereshie, who
assumed in consequence the additional name of Grant, and was created a
baronet in 1838 (see MACPHERSON, surname of).
_____
The Grants
of Glenmoriston, in Inverness-shire, are sprung from John More Grant,
natural son of John Grant, ninth laird of Freuchie. His son, John Roy
Grant, acquired the lands of Carron from the marquis of Huntly. In a
dispute about the marches of their respective properties, he killed
his kinsman, John Grant of Ballindalloch, in 1588, an event which led
to a lasting feud between the families. John Roy Grant had four sons:
Patrick, who succeeded him in Carron; Robert of Nether Glen of Rothes;
James an Twim, or James of the hill, the famous outlaw, of whom
afterwards; and Thomas.
The murder
of John Grant of Ballindalloch above mentioned is said to have been at
the instigation of the laird of Grant, the chief of the tribe, who had
conceived a grudge against him. A few years previous to the year 1628,
James Grant, afterwards the well-known James an Twim, happening
to be at a fair at the town of Elgin, observed one of the Grants of
the Ballindalloch family pursuing his brother Thomas Grant, whom he
knocked down in the street, and wounded severely before his eyes. He
was in his turn attacked by James Grant, who killed him upon the spot.
The laird of Ballindalloch cited the latter to stand his trial for the
slaughter of his kinsman, but as he did not appear he was outlawed.
The chief of the Grants made many attempts to reconcile the parties,
and an offer was made that James Grant should go into exile, and that
compensation should be made in money and goods, according to the usual
practice of assythment, but nothing less than the blood of James Grant
wold satisfy Ballindalloch. James Grant, in consequence, put himself
at the head of a party of robbers, whom he collected from all parts of
the Highlands, and making no distinction between friends and foes,
attacked all parties, plundering and despoiling their property. Grant
of Dalnebo, one of the family of Ballindalloch, fell a victim to their
fury, and many of the kinsmen of that family suffered greatly from
their depredations. Under the supposition that John Grant of Carron,
the nephew of James Grant, secretly assisted his uncle in his illegal
proceedings, John Grant of Ballindalloch, in the year 1628, collected
sixteen of his friends, with whom he went to the woods of Abernethy,
where Carron was cutting down timber, and killed him, but not before
he and Alexander Grant had slain several of Ballindalloch’s friends,
among whom was Thomas Grant of Dalvey. Alexander Grant afterwards
annoyed Ballindalloch and killed several of his men, and assisted the
outlaw James Grant to lay waste his lands. In his History (page 416)
Sir Robert Gordon quaintly says, “Give me leave heir to remark the
providence and sacred judgement of the Almightie God, who now hath
mett Carron with the same measure that his forefather John Roy Grant
of Carron, did serve the ancestour of Ballendallogh; for upon the same
day of the moneth that John Roy Grant did kill the great-grandfather
of Ballendallogh (being the eleventh day of September), the verie same
day of this moneth wes Carron slain by this John Grant of
Ballendallogh many years thereafter. And, besides, as that John Roy
Grant of Carron was lefthanded, so is this John Grant of Ballendallogh
lefthanded also; and moreover, it is to be observed that Ballendallogh,
at this killing of this Carron, had upon him the same coat-of-armour,
or maillie-coat, which John Roy Grant had upon him at the slaughter of
th great grandfather of this Ballendallogh, which mallie-coat
Ballendallogh had, a little befor this tyme, taken from James Grant,
in a skirmish that passed betwixt them. Thus wee doe sie that the
judgements of God are inscrutable, and that, in his own tyme, he
punisheth blood by blood.”
To avoid the
dangers to which he was continually exposed in the north, from the
enmity and constant plundering incursions of James and Alexander
Grant, Ballindalloch was obliged to take refuge in Edinburgh. A party
of the clan Chattan having one night in December 1630, unexpectedly
attacked James Grant at Auchnachyle, in Strathdon, he was taken
prisoner, after receiving eleven wounds, and the death of four of his
band. He was sent to Edinburgh for trial, and while confined in the
castle there, observing Grant of Tomnavoulen pass one day, he called
out, “What news from Speyside?” “None very particular,” replied the
person addressed; “the best is that the country is rid of you.”
“Perhaps we shall meet again,” rejoined the outlaw. By the aid of
ropes concealed in a cask of butter, conveyed to him by his wife, he
made his escape, and fled to Ireland, but after a while returned, and
skulked about for some time in the north. His hiding-place is said to
have been a cave in the mountain Benrinnes, in the parish of Inveraven,
Banffshire. By degrees he became bolder, and at last ventured to
appear openly in Strathdon and on Speyside. Patrick Macgregor, an
outlaw like himself, was hired by Ballindalloch to apprehend him, but
was himself killed in the attempt. Shortly afterwards, he succeeded in
luring his bitter enemy, Ballindalloch, from his own house at night,
under the pretence of a friendly meeting, and confined him in a kiln
at a distance fro his home, exposed to the greatest hardships, for
twenty-one days; but, in his absence he contrived to escape, by
gaining over Leonard Leslie, one of his guards, the son-in-law of the
outlaw’s brother. The latter, Thomas Grant, was, for this outrage,
executed at Edinburgh. Among other atrocities of James an Twim,
which are related, was his having slain Grant of Tomnavoulen and his
son, soon after his return to Speyside. In Spalding’s History of the
Troubles and Memorable Transactions in Scotland in the reign of
Charles the First, there are various references to him. In 1638 we
find him at the head of 500 men, joining the royalist party, who,
after the rout of Turriff, took possession of the city of Aberdeen,
expelling the Covenanters, and plundering the inhabitants.
The
Glenmoriston branch of the Grants adhered faithfully to the Stuarts.
Patrick Grant of Glenmoriston appeared in arms in the viscount of
Dundee’s army at Killiecrankie. He was also at the skirmish at
Cromdale against the government soon after, and at the battle of
Sheriffmuir in 1715. His estate was, in consequence, forfeited, but
through the interposition of the chief of the Grants, was bought back
from the barons of the Exchequer. The laird of Glenmoriston in 1745
also took arms for the Pretender; but means were found to preserve the
estate to the family. The families deriving from this branch, besides
that of Carron, which estate is near Elchies, on the river Spey, are
those of Lynachoarn, Aviemore, Croskie, &c.
The
favourite song of ‘Roy’s Wife of Aldivalloch,’ (the only one she was
ever known to compose,) was written by a Mrs. Grant of Carron, whose
maiden name was Grant, born, near Aberlour, about 1745. Mr. Grant of
Carron, whose wife she became about 1763, was her cousin. After his
death she married, a second time, an Irish physician practising at
Bath, of the name of Murray, and died in that city in 1814.
_____
The Grants
of Dalvey, who possess a baronetcy, are descended from Duncan, second
son of John the Bard, tenth laird of Grant. By his wife Mary, a
daughter of Hugh Rose of Kilravock, Duncan had two sons, namely, John,
and Sweton, whose descendants carried on the line of the family.
John’s grandson, James Grant, previously designed of Gartenbeg,
acquired the estate of Dalvey, in 1680, by purchase from the family of
Ballindalloch. He served the office of lord advocate during the short
reign of James the Seventh, and was created a baronet of Nova Scotia
in 1688, with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever. He died in 1695
without issue, when the baronetcy and estates devolved upon his
kinsman, Patrick Grant, first designed of Inverladinen, lineal
descendant of Sweton Grant, above mentioned. This gentleman is said
not to have assumed the title of baronet, and soon after his accession
he sold the estate of Dalvey to Brigadier Grant. He married Lydia,
sister of Brigadier Macintosh of Borlum, celebrated for his exploits
in the rebellion of 1715, and died in 1756, in the 101st
year of his age. His eldest son, Sir Alexander Grant, revived the
dormant title, and purchased the estate of Grangehill in the parish of
Dyke, county of Elgin, to which he gave the name of Dalvey. He was for
many years M.P. for the Inverness burghs. He was succeeded by his
brother, Sir Ludovick, fourth bart., who died in 1790. The son of the
latter, Sir Alexander, fifth bart., married in 1780, Sarah, daughter
and heiress of Jermiah Cray, Esq. of Ibesley, Hampshire, and, with
other children, had a son, sir Alexander Cray Grant, born 30th
November, 1782, who, on the death of his father, on 25th
July 1825, succeeded as sixth baronet. M.P. from 1812 to 1843, he was
chairman of committees from 1826 to 1832. In Sir Robert Peel’s
administration of 1834-5, he was a member of the board of control. On
receiving the appointment of one of the commissioners for auditing the
public accounts in 1843, he accepted the Chiltern hundreds, being then
M.P. for Cambridge.
He died Nov.
29, 1854, and was succeeded by his brother, Sir Robert Innes, 7th
baronet, born April 8, 1794, married in 1825 Judith, eldest daughter
of Cornelius Durant Battelle, Esq. of St. Croix, West Indies; issue, 2
sons, Alexander, born in 1826, and Robert Innes, born in 1833, and 2
daughters. Sir Robert Innes Grant died in Aug. 1856, when his elder
son, Sir Alexander, became 8th baronet. Born at New York in
1826, the latter was educated at Harrow and Oxford, and in 1849 was
elected Fellow of Oriel. In 1855 he was appointed by the board of
control examiner in the department of moral sciences for the India
civil service appointments; in 1857 public examiner in the classical
school, Oxford; and in 1858 inspector of schools in the Madras
Presidency. In 1859 he married the 2d daughter of James Frederick
Ferrier, Esq., professor of moral philosophy n the university of St.
Andrews.
_____
The Grants
of Monymusk, who also possess a baronetcy, (date of creation, Dec. 7.
1705), are descended from Archibald Grant of Ballintomb, an estate
conferred on him by charter dated 8th March, 1580. He was
the younger son of John Grant of Freuchie, called Evan Baold,
or the Gentle, by his 2d wife, Isobel Barclay. With 3 daughters,
Archibald Grant had 2 sons. The younger son, James, was designed of
Tombreack. Duncan of Ballintomb, the elder, had 3 sons; Archibald, his
heir; Alexander, of Allachie; and William, of Arudillie. The eldest
son, Archibald, had, with 2 daughters, 2 sons, the elder of whom,
Archibald Grant, Esq. of Bellinton, had a son, Sir Francis, a lord of
session, under the title of Lord Cullen, the first baronet of this
family.
This eminent
judge was born about 1660, and received the academical part of his
education at the university of Aberdeen; but, being intended for the
profession of the law he was sent to finish his studies at Leyden,
under the celebrated civilian, John Voet. His proficiency was so great
that many years after he had left Leyden, Voet often mentioned him as
having conferred honour upon the university there. On his return to
Scotland, he was entered at the bar January 29, 1681, and soon
obtained an excellent practice. At the Revolution of 1688 he joined
the party of the prince of Orange, and distinguished himself in the
memorable convention, which met early in 1689, by his speech in favour
of conferring on the prince the sovereignty of the kingdom, with the
necessary constitutional limitations. In 1703, eight years before the
passing of the Act of Queen Anne, he published a pamphlet against the
restoration of patronage in the church. He was created a baronet by
Queen Anne, by patent, Dec. 7, 1705, and on June 10, 1709, was raised
to the bench, when he assumed the title of Lord Cullen. Some years
previous to his death he sold his paternal estate, and purchased from
the Forbeses the estate of Monymusk, which is still held by his
descendants. His lordship died March 16, 1726. According to Wodrow,
who says he understood his father to have been a clergyman, “he was a
living library, and the most ready in citation. When the lords wanted
anything in the civil or canon law to be cast up, or acts of
parliament, he never failed them, but turned to the place. He seemed a
little ambulatory in his judgment as to church government, but was a
man of great piety and devotion, wonderfully serious in prayer and
learning the word.” [Analecta, printed for the Maitland Club.] Lord
Cullen’s works are:
The
Loyalist’s Reasons for his giving obedience, and swearing allegiance
to the present government as being obliged thereto by (it being
founded on) the Laws of God, Nature, and Nations. By F.G. Edin. 1689,
8vo.
A Brief
Account of the Rise, Nature, and Progress of the Societies for the
Reformation of Manners, &c., in England, with a Preface exhorting the
use of such Societies in Scotland. Edin. 1700, printed for gratis
distribution.
Reasons in
defence of the Standing Laws about the Right of Presentation in
Patronages, to be offered, against an Act (in case it be) presented
for the alteration thereof; by a member of parliament. Edin. 1703,
Anon.
A Short
History of the Sabbath, containing some few grounds for its Morality,
and Cases about its Observance. Edin. 1705, Anon.
Law,
Religion, and Education considered, in three Essays. Edin. 1715, 8vo.
A Key to the
plot, by Reflections on the Rebellion of 1715. London, 1716, 8vo.
Certain
pamphlets entitled ‘Essays on Removing the National Prejudices against
a Union,’ have been attributed to Lord Cullen.
From George
I. Lord Cullen obtained a special warrant, granting him license to use
as a coat of arms – the field red, charged with three crowns gold, as
descended from Grant of that ilk, within a border ermine, in quality
of a judge, supported with two angels upon a helmet as baronet, and a
book expanded for his crest, above which a scroll, with this motto,
Suum Cuique, and upon a compartment below the arms – Jehovah
Jire; the only instance, it is said, in Scottish Heraldry, of a
Hebrew motto.
Lord Cullen
was thrice married: first, to Jean, daughter of Rev. William Meldrum
of Meldrum, without issue; 2dly, to Sarah, daughter of Rev. Mr.
Fordyce of Ayton, Berwickshire, by whom, with 3 daughters, he had 3
sons, Archibald, William, and Francis; and 3dly, to Agnes, daughter of
Henry Hay, Esq., without issue. The daughters were 1. Jean, married to
Garden of Troup, with issue; 2. Christian, to George Buchan, Esq. of
Kelloe, with issue; and 3. Helen, to Andrew M’Dowall, Lord Bankton, a
lord of session, and author of a much-esteemed work on the Institutes
of the law of Scotland.
William, the
2d son, was also a lord of session. Admitted advocate Feb. 24, 1722,
he soon distinguished himself at the bar. In May 1731 he was elected
procurator for the Church of Scotland, and principal clerk to the
General Assembly; on June 20 1737, he was appointed solicitor-general,
and on August 28, 1738, was named one of the commissioners for
improving the fisheries and manufactures of Scotland. On Feb. 26,
1746, he was constituted lord advocate, in which office he had a
principal part in preparing and promoting the acts for the abolition
of the heritable jurisdictions, and for suppressing the use of the
peculiar garb of the Highlanders. In 1747 he had been elected M.P. for
the Elgin burghs, and in Nov. 1754 he was named a lord of session and
of justiciary, when he took the judicial title of Lord Prestongrange.
In 1754 he was appointed one of the trustees for the annexed estates.
He was also the author of an able political pamphlet, published in
1745, entitled the ‘Occasional Writer, in answer to the second
manifesto of the Pretender’s son.’ He died May 23, 1764, at Bath,
where he had gone for the benefit of his health. He had 3 daughters,
1. Janet, Countess of Hyndford. 2. Agnes married Sir George Suttie,
Bart. Of Balgonie, with issue. 3. Jane, wife of Hon. Robert Dundas of
Arniston, lord president of the court of session; issue, 4 sons.
Francis, the
3d son, a merchant in Edinburgh, long resided for mercantile purposes
at Dunkirk in France. On his return to Scotland in 1747, he was
appointed inspector-general of the forfeited estates.
The eldest
son of Lord Cullen, Sir Archibald Grant, 2d baronet, was also educated
for the law, and passed advocate in 1711. He relinquished practice,
however, on being chosen M.P. for the county of Aberdeen, and was
frequently re-elected. In July 1749, he was appointed principal clerk
and keeper of the hornings. He died Sept. 17, 1778, at an advanced
age. He was four times married; first fo Anne, daughter of Hamilton of
Pencaitland; issue, two daughters, who died young; 2dly, to Anne,
daughter of Charles Potts, Esq. of Derbyshire; issue, a son,
Archibald, and a daughter, Mary, who became 2d wife of Dr. Gregory
Grant, an eminent physician of Edinburgh, of whom there is a
full-length likeness, taken in 1799, in Kay’s Edinburgh Portraits;
2dly, in 1751, to Elizabeth Clerk, widow of Dr. James Callander of
Jamaica, and four years after, her daughter by Dr. Callander, became
the wife of Sir Archibald’s only son; and, 4thly, to the widow of Mr.
Andrew Millar, the celebrated London bookseller, the two last without
issue.
His only
son, Sir Archibald, 3d baronet, raised, in 1748, a company of 100 men,
and went with them, in the service of the East India Company, to St.
David’s in the East Indies, but on the peace his company was reduced,
and he returned to Scotland. He married, 1. Mary, daughter of James
Callander, Esq., Jamaica, and 2dly, in 1794, Jessie, daughter of
Macleod of Colbecks, and died Sept. 30, 1796. By his first wife, he
had 2 sons, Archibald, his successor, and James Francis, a clergyman
of the Church of England; and a daughter, Mary, married 2d son of Sir
Joseph Radcliffe, a Yorkshire baronet.
The elder
son, Sir Archibald, 4th baronet of Monymusk, married, in
1788, Mary, daughter of Major John Forbes, of Newe, and had 4 sons and
5 daughters. Archibald, the eldest son, having predeceased his father,
James, the 2d son, became 5th baronet, on his father’s
death in April 1820, and died in 1859. His brother, Sir Isaac, 3d son,
born in 1792, succeeded as 6th bart. Heir presumptive, his
nephew, Archibald, born in 1823, eldest son of Robert Grant of
Tillyfour, 4th son, deputy-lieutenant of Aberdeenshire,
deceased.
_____
The Grants
of Kilgraston in Perthshire are lineally descended, through the line
of the Grants of Glenlochy, from the ninth laird of Grant. Peter
Grant, the last of the lairds of Glenlochy, which estate he sold, had
two sons, John and Francis. The elder son, John, chief justice of
Jamaica from 1783 to 1790, purchased the estates of Kilgraston and
Pitcaithley, lying contiguous to each other in Strathearn; and, dying
in 1793, without issue, he was succeeded by his brother, Francis. This
gentleman married Anne, eldest daughter of Robert Oliphant, Esq. of
Rossie, Postmaster-general of Scotland, and had 5 sons and 2
daughters. He died in 1819.
His eldest
son, John Grant, of Kilgraston, born June 13, 1798, married 1st,
in 1820, Margaret, daughter of Francis, 15th Lord Gray;
issue, a daughter, Margaret, married in 1840 Hon. David Murray, 3d son
of 3d earl of Mansfield. He married 2dly, in 1828, Lady Lucy Bruce, 3d
daughter of 7th earl of Elgin; issue, 7 sons and 6
daughters. Francis Augustus, the eldest son, born Feb. 24, 1829, died
Oct. 1, 1854, in the Crimea, after Alma.
Major-General Sir James Hope grant, K.C.B., 5th and
youngest son of Francis Grant, Esq. of Kilgraston and Pitcaithley,
born January 18, 1808, was educated in Scotland and at Hoffville in
Switzerland, and entered the army as cornet in 1826. He was brigade
major in the war with China under Lord Saltoun, and received a medal
for his services there, and subsequently in India under Lords Gough
and Hardinge. At the battle of Sabraon in 1846 he commanded the 9th
lancers, for which he also received a medal. He also commanded the
regiment in the Punjaum campaign, including the passage of the Chenab
at Ramunggur, and the battle of Chilianwallah. He was also present at
the battle of Goojerat. In 1854 he received the brevet of colonel, and
took an active part in the suppression of the Indian mutiny in 1857-8;
for his services on which occasion he was made a Knight commander of
the order of the Bath. He had the local rank of lieutenant-general in
India. In 1858 he became major-general, and in 1859 he received the
thanks of parliament for “His eminent services in India,” during the
mutinies. In 1860 he was in command of the British forces during the
operations in China, and in Nov. of that year was decorated with the
Grand Cross of the order of the Bath. In 1847 he married Helen,
daughter of B. Tayler, Esq.
_____
The badge of
the Clan Grant was the pine or cranberry heath, and their slogan or
gathering cry, “Stand fast, Craigellachie!” the bold projecting rock
of that name (“the rock of alarm”) in the united parishes of Duthil
and Rothiemurchus, being their hill of rendezvous. The Grants had a
long standing feud with the Gordons, and even among the different
branches of themselves there were faction fights, as between the
Ballindalloch and Carron Grants. The clan, with few exceptions, was
noted for its loyalty, being generally, and the family of the chief
invariably, found on the side of government. In Strathspey the name
prevailed almost to the exclusion of every other, and to this day
Grant is the predominant surname in the district, as alluded to by Sir
Alexander Boswell, baronet, in his lively verses:
“Come
the Grants of Tullochgorum,
Wi’ their pipers gaun before ‘em,
Proud the mothers are that bore ‘em.
Next
the grants of Rothiemurchus,
Every man his sword and durk has,
Every man as proud’s a Turk is.”
GRANT, PATRICK,
LORD ELCHIES,
an eminent lawyer, son of Captain Grant of Easter Elchies, was born in
1690. Admitted advocate Feb. 12, 1712, he obtained an extensive
practice at the bar, and was appointed a judge of the court of session
Nov. 3, 1732, and of the court of justiciary March 3, 1736. He died at
the house of Inch, near Edinburgh, July 27, 1754, in his 64th
year. He collected the Decisions of the Court of Session from 1733 to
1757, which were printed in 1813, in 2 vols. 4to, by W.M. Morison,
Esq., advocate, uniform with his Dictionary of Decisions. He likewise
wrote Annotations upon Lord Stair’s Institutes, which were also
printed in 1824. The session papers belonging to Lord Elchies, in the
Advocates’ library, Edinburgh, contain voluminous manuscript notes,
all in his lordship’s handwriting. “He had a head,” says Lord
Woodhouselee, in his Life of Lord Kames, (vol. I. P. 39) “Peculiarly
fitted for the investigation of the most intricate points of the law,
which his genius developed as by a species of intuition, reducing
every question to some great and leading principle, and thence showing
its derivation either as a necessary corollary, or accounting for its
departure from the general axiom upon some obvious ground of
exception. It was from him that Mr. Home (Lord Kames), as I have heard
him frequently acknowledge, learned that habit of logical
investigation, which he found of the utmost advantage in the daily
practice of his profession of a barrister, and which he carried into
all his researches on the subject of law as a science.” He had a son,
John Grant, who was also bred to the law, and after being
sheriff-depute of the counties of Moray and Nairn, was appointed one
of the barons of the Exchequer in Scotland. He sold the estate of
Elchies to the earl of Findlater, after it had been in possession of
the Grants for 300 years. It now forms a portion of the earl of
Seafield’s estates.
GRANT, JAMES,
of Corromony, author of ‘Essays on the Origin of Society,’ was an
advocate in Edinburgh, and at the time of his death the father of the
Scottish bar. He was born in 1743. Being early distinguished for his
liberal principles, he numbered among his friends the Hon. Henry
Erskine, Sir James Macintosh, Francis Jeffrey, and many others,
eminent for their attainments and their high political character. He
died in 1835, at the advanced age of 92.
His works
are:
Essays on
the Origin of Society, Language, Property, Government, Jurisdiction,
Contracts and Marriages, interspersed with Illustrations from the
Gaelic and Greek Languages. London, 1785, 4to.
Thoughts on
the Origin and Descent of the Gael; with an account of the Picts,
Caledonians, and Scots; and observations relative to the authenticity
of the Poems of Ossian. Lond. 1813, 8vo. Edin. 1814, 8vo.
GRANT, CHARLES,
an eminent philanthropist and statesman, was born in the north of
Scotland in 1746. His father was slain at the battle of Culloden only
a few hours after his birth, and the care of his youth in consequence
devolved upon an uncle, at whose expense he received a good education
in the town of Elgin. In 1767 he sailed in a military capacity for
India, and on his arrival he was taken into the employment of Mr.
Richard Becher, a member of the Bengal council. In 1770 he revisited
his native country, where he married a lady of the name of Fraser. In
May 1772, accompanied by his wife and some of her relatives, he again
went to India as a writer on the Bengal establishment. In the course
of the voyage he formed an intimacy with the Rev. Christian Frederick
Swartz, the celebrated missionary, after whose death, on Mr. Grant’s
recommendation, a monument was erected to his memory in St. Mary’s
church at Fort St. George, at the expense of the East India Company.
Soon after
Mr. Grant’s arrival at Calcutta, he was, June 23, 1773, promoted to
the rank of factor, and shortly afterwards was appointed secretary to
the Board of Trade. In 1781 he was stationed as commercial resident in
charge of the company’s valuable silk factory at Malda, on the Ganges,
in the immediate vicinity of the stupendous ruins of the once
magnificent city of Gour, the ancient capital of Bengal. In June 1784
he obtained the rank of senior merchant, and in February 1787 he was
recalled to Calcutta, to occupy the seat of the fourth member of the
Board of Trade, conferred on him by Lord Cornwallis. In less than
three years after, the impaired health of his family compelled him
suddenly to quit India; and his return to England was accompanied by
unusually strong expressions of the high satisfaction with which the
Government regarded his zealous and faithful services in the
commercial department.
While in the
east Mr. Grant distinguished himself by his regard to religion, and
his exertions to promote the cause of Christianity. He not only
contributed liberally to the rebuilding of St. John’s church,
Calcutta, but redeemed from ruin the Protestant mission church, styled
Beth-Tephillah, or “House of Prayer;” at a personal expense to himself
of ten thousand rupees, after which he vested it in trust for sacred
and charitable purposes for ever.
In May 1794
Mr. Grant was elected one of the directors of the East India Company,
in which capacity he was instrumental in effecting various essential
measures of economy. He also supported the projects in agitation for
the opening of the trade of India, and for preventing the abuse of the
patronage of the Company. In April 1804 he was elected deputy chairman
of the Court of Directors, and in April 1805 succeeded to the chair,
which he filled, either as chairman or deputy chairman, in rotation,
till April 1816.
In 1802 he
had been elected a member of the House of Commons for the Inverness
burghs, and in 1804 was returned for the county of Inverness. In his
place in parliament he invariably opposed the measures of Lord
Wellesley’s administration in India; and, on April 5, 1805, gave his
support to the resolution brought forward by Sir Philip Francis, “That
to pursue schemes of conquest and extension of dominion in India are
alike repugnant to the wish, the honour, and the policy of this
nation.” His opinions on all questions relative to India were received
with great attention in the House of Commons, where he ever proved
himself to be the zealous and powerful supporter of the Company, and
the indefatigable friend and advocate of the native population of
British India. The education of the Company’s servants destined for
India was with Mr. Grant a question of vital importance, and the plan
of the college at Haileybury, in Hertfordshire, is said to have
originated with him.
Mr. Grant
had in 1792 written and printed, for private circulation, a most
valuable tract, entitled ‘Observations on the State of Society among
the Asiatic Subjects of Great Britain.’ this pamphlet he laid before
the court of directors in 1797, accompanied with an introductory
Letter, recommending some measures for communicating Christianity to
the natives of India, by granting permission for missionaries to
proceed thither. In June 1813 this paper was called for by the House
of Commons, and ordered to be printed for the use of the members. The
results of Mr. Grant’s persevering and benevolent exertions for the
improvement of the intellectual and moral condition of the inhabitants
of India, appear to have been the augmentation of the ecclesiastical
establishment of British India, the grant of a privilege to
missionaries to visit that country, and the appropriation of a sum for
the promotion of education among the natives. In 1818 Mr. Grant was
elected chairman of the commissioners for the issue of exchequer
bills. He was also included in the commission appointed by parliament
to superintend the erection of new churches. He was, besides, a member
of the Society in London for Promoting Christian Knowledge, as well as
of another Society of the same name connected exclusively with the
Highlands and Islands of Scotland. He was elected a vice-president of
the British and Foreign bible Society upon its institution in 1804,
and was connected with the church missionary and other societies of a
religious and charitable description. He died October 31, 1823. By his
wife, Jane, daughter of Thomas Fraser, Esq., a younger son of Fraser
of Balnain, Inverness-shire, he had three sons, namely, Charles,
created Lord Glenelg, 8th May, 1836; Robert, of whom a
memoir follows; and Thomas William Grant, who died 15th May
1848. One of his daughters was married to Samuel March Phillipps,
Esq., at one period under secretary of state for the home department,
and another to patrick Grant, Esq. of Redcastle.
GRANT, SIR ROBERT,
RIGHT HON.,
governor of Bombay, the second son of the preceding, was born in 1785.
With his elder brother Charles, Lord Glenelg, he was entered a member
of Magdalene college, in the university of Cambridge, of which they
both became Fellows. He obtained a Craven scholarship in 1799, and in
1801 the brothers took their degree of bachelor of arts together, when
Charles was third and Robert fourth wrangler, Charles first and Robert
second medalist; so equal were their studies and attainments, and so
parallel their success. In addition, Charles obtained, 1802, the
second bachelor’s prize. Robert took his degree of M.A. in 1806,
having been preceded in that step two years by his brother. He adopted
the profession of the law, and was called to the bar at Lincoln’s-Inn,
January 30, 1807. Subsequently to 1813, he was appointed to the office
of king’s sergeant in the Duchy Court of Lancaster, and was made one
of the commissioners of bankrupts.
In 1826 he
was returned to parliament for the Inverness district of burghs. In
1830 he was elected for Norwich, and again in 1831. When his brother
became president of the Board of Control, he was appointed one of the
commissioners. In 1831 he was sworn a privy councillor, and in 1832 he
was nominated judge advocate-general. At the first election for the
new borough of Finsbury in 1831, he was returned as one of its first
members by a very large majority. In June 1834 he was appointed
governor of Bombay, and continued in the discharge of his high duties
till July 9, 1838, when he expired at Dapoorie in his 53d year. He
had, on the 19th June, left the Presidency in good health
for the hills; but having imprudently ridden out during a heavy fall
of rain, he was attacked by fever; from which, however, he in some
degree recovered, but suffering a relapse, his brain became affected,
and he sank under the effects of the malady. He married Margaret,
daughter of the late Sir David Davidson of Cantray, county of Nairn,
by whom he left an infant family. A volume of his Poems was published
a short time after his decease, edited by his brother, Lord Glenelg.
His works
are:
Sketch of
the History of the East India Company, from its foundation to the
passing of the Regulating Act, in 1773; with a Summary View of the
Changes which have taken place since that period in the internal
Administration of British India. Lond. 1813, 8vo.
The
Expediency maintained of continuing the System by which the Trade and
Government of India are now Regulated. Lond. 1813, 8vo.
Poems.
London, 1839, 8vo.
GRANT, SIR
WILLIAM, THE RIGHT HON.,
an eminent lawyer, descended from the Grants of Beldornie, one of the
branches of the ancient clan of that name, was born in 1754 at Elchies,
on the banks of the Spey, in the county of Moray. His father was
originally bred to agricultural pursuits, but died collector of
Customs in the Isle of Man. The subject of this notice received the
elementary part of his education at the grammar school of Elgin, with
his younger brother, who became collector at Martinico. After
completing his studies at King’s college, Old Aberdeen, he went to
London to follow the profession of the law. He was entered at
Lincoln’s-Inn; and, before being called to the bar, was, at the age of
twenty-five, considered competent to fill the situation of
attorney=general of Canada; to which colony he accordingly proceeded,
and soon obtained undisputed preeminence in the Canadian courts.
Canada was at that time overrun by the revolutionary armies of
America, and Mr. Grant was present at the memorable siege of Quebec,
and the death of General Montgomery. He was himself engaged in active
military duty, and commanded a body of volunteers. He remained in
Canada for a considerable period, but the unsettled state of the
colony, and the hope of succeeding better at the English bar, induced
him to resign his office of attorney-general, and to return to London.
He was called to the bar by the Society of Lincoln’s-Inn in 1787, when
he engaged in practice in the courts of Common law, and joined the
home circuit. Being nearly unknown, however, n England, he went the
circuit for several years without obtaining a single brief. Happening
to be retained in some appear cases from the court of session in
Scotland to the House of Lords, Lord Chancellor Thurlow was much
struck with his powers of argument, and having learnt his name,
observed to a friend, “Be not surprised if that young man should one
day occupy this seat.” In consequence of an invitation from Lord
Thurlow, he subsequently left the common law bar, and thenceforward
practised solely in the court of chancery.
At the
general election of 1790, Mr. Grant was returned for Shaftesbury, and
soon distinguished himself as a powerful coadjutor of Mr. Pitt. He
seldom spoke in the House, but when he did, it was on questions with
which he was fully acquainted. In 1791 he distinguished himself so
much in a debate relative to the laws of Canada that he was highly
complimented by Mr. Fox, who declared that he was one of his most
formidable antagonists. In 1792 he made a most able, acute, and
argumentative speech in defence of the ministry on the subject of the
Russian armament. In 1793 he was called within the bar, with a patent
of precedence; and in the same year was appointed a Welsh judge, when
a new writ was ordered for Shaftesbury on the 20th June,
and he was not rechosen. However, on a vacancy occurring for Windsor
in the following January, he was elected for that borough. He was at
that time solicitor-general for the queen. In 1796 he was elected
member of parliament for the county of Banff. In 1798 he was appointed
chief-justice of Chester; in 1799 he succeeded the late Lord Redesdale
as solicitor-general, when he was knighted; and on May 20, 1801, on
the promotion of Sir Pepper Arden to be chief-justice of the common
pleas, he was nominated master of the rolls. He continued member for
Banffshire until the dissolution of parliament in 1812; and during a
period of upwards of sixteen years, he filled the judicial chair in
the Rolls court with undiminished ability and reputation. He retired
about the end of 1817, and in his latter years lived chiefly at Barton
House, Dawlish, the residence of his sister, the widow of Admiral
Schanck. Sir William Grant died, unmarried, May 25, 1832.
GRANT, ANNE,
usually designated Mrs. Grant of Laggan, a popular and instructive
miscellaneous writer, whose maiden name was M’Vicar, was born in
Glasgow in 1755. Her father was an officer in the British army, and,
on her mother’s side, she was descended from the ancient family of
Stewart of Invernahyle, in Argyleshire. Shortly after her birth, her
father went with his regiment to America, with the intention, if he
found sufficient inducement, of settling there. His wife and infant
daughter soon after joined him. They landed at Charlestown, and though
the child was then scarcely three years old, she retained ever after a
distinct recollection of her arrival in America. During her residence
in that country, she was taught by her mother to read, and she never
had any other instructor. But she was so apt and diligent a scholar,
that, before her sixth year, she had perused te Old Testament, with
the contents of which she was well acquainted. About the same age she
also learned to speak the Dutch language, in consequence of being
domesticated for some time with a family of Dutch colonists in the
state of New York. From the sergeant of a Scottish regiment she
received the only lessons in penmanship she ever obtained; and
observing her love of books, he presented her with a copy of Blind
Harry’s ‘Wallace,’ the perusal of which excited in her bosom a lasting
admiration of the heroism of Wallace and his compatriots, and a
glowing enthusiasm for Scotland, which, as she herself expressed it,
ever after remained with her as a principle of life. Her fondness for
reading also procured for her, from an officer of her father’s
regiment, a copy of Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ which, young as she was,
she studied with much attention. Indeed, to her diligent perusal of
this book she herself ascribed the formation of her character,
observing that, whatever she possessed of elevation of spirit,
expansion of mind, or taste for the sublime and beautiful, she owed it
all to her familiarity with Milton. The effect of this became so
evident in her conversation and habits as to secure for her the notice
of several of the most eminent settlers in the state of New York, and,
in particular, to procure for her the friendship of the celebrated
Madame Schuyler, whose worth and virtues Mrs. Grant has extolled in
her ‘Memoirs of an American Lady.
Mrs. Grant’s
father had, with the view of permanently settling in America, received
a large grant of land, to which, by purchase, he made several
additions; but, from bad health, he was obliged to leave the country
very hurriedly, without having had time to dispose of his property. He
returned to Scotland with his wife and daughter in 1768, and a few
years afterwards he was appointed barrack-master of Fort-Augustus. –
soon after the revolutionary war broke out in America, and before his
estate there could be sold it was confiscated, and thus the family
were deprived of the chief means to which they had looked forward for
support. While her father continued in the situation of
barrack-master, the office of chaplain to the Fort was filled by the
Rev. James Grant, a young clergyman of accomplished mind and manners,
connected with some of the most respectable families in the
neighbourhood, who was soon afterwards appointed minister of the
parish of Laggan, in Inverness-shire, and in 1779 he married Miss
M’Vicar, the subject of this notice. When she went to Laggan, she set
herself assiduously to learn the customs and the language of the
people among whom she was to reside, and soon became well versed in
both. Mr. Grant died in 1801. Of the marriage twelve children were
born, four of whom died in early life.
For some
time after her husband’s death Mrs. Grant took the charge of a small
farm in the neighbourhood of Laggan; but in 1803 she found it
necessary to remove to the vicinity of Stirling, where she was
enabled, with the assistance of her friends, to provide, in the
meantime, for her family. She had always found delight n the pursuits
of literature; and having early shown a taste for poetry, she was
occasionally accustomed to write verses. Of her poems, which were
generally written in haste, her friends formed a much higher opinion
than she herself did. She usually gave them away, when finished,
without retaining a copy. It occurred to some of those persons who
felt interested in her welfare, that a volume of her poems might be
published with advantage; and, before she was well aware of their kind
intentions, the prospectus was dispersed all over Scotland for
printing such a volume by subscription. At this time Mrs. Grant had
not even collected the materials for the proposed publication; but, in
a short period, the extraordinary number of upwards of 3,000
subscribers were procured by her influential friends. The late
celebrated duchess of Gordon took a lively interest in this project,
and Mrs. Grant was n this way almost forced before the public. The
poems were well received on their appearance in 1803; and even the
Edinburgh Review, that then universal disparager of poetic genius, was
constrained to admit that some of the pieces were “written with great
beauty, tenderness, and delicacy.” From the profits of this
publication Mrs. Grant was enabled to discharge some debts which had
been contracted during her married life. In 1806 appeared her
well-known ‘Letters from the Mountains,’ which went through several
editions, and soon rendered her name highly popular.
In 1810 Mrs.
Grant removed frm Stirling to Edinburgh, where she resided for the
remainder of her life. Here it was her misfortune to lose by death all
her children except her youngest son. In 1808 she prepared for the
press her ‘Memoirs of an American Lady,’ in two volumes; and in 1811
appeared her ‘Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlanders of
Scotland,’ also in two volumes, both of which were favourably
received. The former work was greatly esteemed both in this country
and in America, and contains much vigorous writing with some highly
graphic sketches of Transatlantic scenery, and habits of the people,
previous to the Revolution. In 1814 she published a poem in two parts,
entitled ‘Eighteen Hundred and Thirteen,’ and the following year she
produced at London her ‘Popular Models and Impressive Warnings for the
Sons and Daughters of Industry,’ in two volumes.
In 1825 an
application was made on her behalf to George the Fourth for a pension,
which was signed by Sir Walter Scott, Lord Jeffrey, Mr. Mackenzie,
‘The Man of Feeling,’ and other influential persons in Edinburgh, in
consequence of which Mrs. Grant received a pension of £100 yearly on
the civil establishment of Scotland, which, with the emoluments of her
literary works, and some liberal bequests left her by deceased
friends, rendered her circumstances in her latter years quite easy and
independent. She died November 7, 1838, aged 84.
GRANT, JOSEPH,
a pleasing writer of tales and poetry, chiefly in the Scottish
dialect, was born in Kincardineshire, May 26, 1805. His father was a
small farmer, and when old enough he was employed in summer in tending
cattle, while in winter he was sent to the school of his native
parish, where he may be said to have acquired all the education he
ever received. From his earliest years he was devoted to reading, and
began to compose verses at the age of fourteen. In 1828 he published
‘Juvenile Lays,’ a collection of poems; and in 1830 appeared his
‘Kincardineshire Traditions,’ in one small volume. At a later period
of his life he contributed several interesting Tales and Sketches to
‘chambers’ Edinburgh Journal.’ In 1831 he engaged as an assistant to a
shopkeeper in Stonehaven, but the latter giving up business in a few
months, he returned to his father’s farm of Affrusk. Subsequently he
was employed as a clerk in the Guardian newspaper office, Dundee, and
latterly in that of Mr Alexander Miller, writer there. He was engaged
preparing a volume of his Tales for the press, when he was seized with
a cold which settled on his lungs, and, returning home for the benefit
of his native air, he died at Affrusk, April 14, 1835. The volume
alluded to was published, in 1836, under the title of ‘Tales of the
Glens, with Ballads and Songs,’ and a Memoir by Robert Nicoll, author
of ‘Poems and Lyrics.’
