354 



GRANT 



only be conveyed by livery of seisin i.e. by solemn 

 delivery of possession. The Real Property Act of 

 1845 enacted that the immediate freehold might be 

 conveyed by deed of grant. It is no longer neces- 

 sary to use the word ' grant ; ' other words, such 

 as 'convey,' will have the same effect. A grant of 

 the reversion of land under lease was formerly 

 completed by the lessee attorning ( becoming ) tenant 

 to the grantee ; but the necessity for attornment is 

 now abolished. In the United States generally 

 livery of seisin is dispensed with, and the term 

 ' grant ' applies to all transfers of real property. 



Grant, FAMILY OF. Among various conflicting 

 theories as to the origin of this family, the most 

 probable is, as the name seems to indicate, that it 

 is of Norman extraction, and that it was intro- 

 duced into Britain at the Conquest. Occasionally 

 it appears in parts of England ; but by the middle 

 of the 13th century it had established itself in the 

 north of Scotland Laurence le Grant holding the 

 responsible office of sheriff of Inverness in 1263. 

 He and his descendants acquired large territories 

 in the great Caledonian Glen, and also in Strath- 

 spey, Freuchie, now Castle Grant, near Grantown, 

 becoming their principal barony and residence. 

 The sixth laird of Freuchie was knighted by King 

 James VI., .and his grandson had his lands erected 

 into the regality of Grant whence their designa- 

 tion since. Sir Ludovick Grant, fourth laird of 

 Grant, married as his second wife, Lady Margaret 

 Ogilvie, daughter of James, fifth Earl of Findlater 

 and Seafield, and, through this marriage, their 

 grandson succeeded in 1811 to the earldom of Sea- 

 field, assuming the surname of Ogilvie in addition 

 to that of Grant. Through another marriage, a 

 younger brother of the fourth laird of Grant suc- 

 ceeded to the estates of the Colquhouns of Luss, 

 and, assuming the surname of Colquhoun, became 

 the ancestor of the present family of that name. 

 The Chiefs of Grant (3 vols. 4to, 1883), prepared by 

 Sir William Eraser, K.C.B., for the family, pre- 

 sents a history of its descent, and also shows the 

 dispersion of its numerous cadet branches, many 

 members of which have become distinguished in 

 various spheres of life. 



Grant, SIR ALEXANDER, of Dalvey, was born 

 at New York in 1826, and represented one of the 

 oldest branches of the Clan Grant. Educated 

 at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford, he gradu- 

 ated B.A. in 1848, and was elected to an Oriel 

 fellowship. Here he edited the Ethics of Aristotle 

 (1857), with English notes, a work which still 

 maintains a reputation by its suggestive pre- 

 liminary essays. He succeeded as baronet in 1856, 

 was appointed inspector of schools at Madras in 



1858, and became professor of History in Elphin- 

 stone College there ; then its principal ; and after- 

 wards vice-chancellor of Elgin College, Bombay, 

 in all which positions he did much to promote 

 the interests of education in India. On the death 

 of Sir David Brewster he was in 1868 chosen as 

 principal of the university of Edinburgh, an office 

 which he enjoyed for sixteen years, during which 

 took place the inauguration of the new medical 

 school, and the tercentenary celebration of the 

 university. His Story of the University of Edin- 

 burgh (1884) was published in connection with the 

 latter event. Earlier works were Aristotle and 

 Xenophon, in Blackwood's 'Ancient Classics;' and 

 Recess Studies (1870), a volume of essays written 

 by various scholars. The universities of Edinburgh 

 and Glasgow conferred upon him the degree of 

 LL.D., and Oxford that of D.C.L. He married, in 



1859, Susan, daughter of Professor Ferrier of St 

 Andrews, and died suddenly on 1st December 1884. 



Grant, MRS ANNE, a miscellaneous writer, 

 whose works were among the first to draw public 



attention to the romantic scenery and peculip.r 

 manners of the Scottish Highlands, was oorn in 

 Glasgow, 21st February 1755. She was the daugh- 

 ter of a British officer, Duncan M' Vicar, who 

 became barrack-master of Fort-Augustus. She 

 married in 1779 the Rev. James Grant, formerly 

 chaplain of the fort, minister of Laggan. Left 

 a widow in destitute circumstances in 1801, Mrs 

 Grant published by subscription a volume of 

 Poems (1803), which were well received; Letters 

 from the Mountains (1806), a highly popular 

 work; Memoirs of an American Lady (1808); 

 Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlanders of 

 Scotland (1811), &c. In 1825 she received a pen 

 sion of 100 a year, and by legacy from Sir 

 William Grant, Master of the Rolls, she enjoyed a 

 similar annuity. She died on 7th November 1838. 

 A memoir of her life, and a selection from her 

 correspondence, forming a continuation of her 

 Letters from the Mountains, were edited by her son, 

 J. P. Grant, in 1844. 



Grant, CHARLES, LORD GLENELG, son of 

 Charles Grant, sometime M.P. for Inverness-shire, 

 and a distinguished director of the East India 

 Company, was born at Kidderpur, near Calcutta, 

 in 1778. He was of the Grants of Sheuglie, 

 cadets of the Grants of Grant. He was educated 

 at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he took 

 Ids degree of M.A. in 1804. In 1805 he published 

 a poem on the Restoration of Learning in the 

 East, which had won the university prize awarded 

 by Dr Claudius Buchanan. He was called to the 

 bar in 1807, but never practised. In 1811 he was 

 elected M.P. for the Inverness district of burghs; 

 and afterwards, succeeding his father in the county 

 representation, continued in the House of Com- 

 mons till 1835, when he was raised to the peerage. 

 Grant held for five years the office of a Lord of the 

 Treasury, and in 1819 was appointed Secretary 

 for Ireland, which he continued to be for about 

 two years. As Irish Secretary he endeavoured 

 to suppress the Orange demonstrations, to secure 

 the impartial administration of justice, and to 

 devise a system of national education adapted 

 for Catholics as well as Protestants. From 1823 

 to 1827 Grant was Vice-president of the Board 

 of Trade; from 1830 to 1834 President of the 

 Board of Control ; and from 1834 to 1839 Secretary 

 of State for the Colonies. After this he with- 

 drew in a great measure from public affairs, but 

 supported the Liberal party by his vote. He died 

 at Cannes, in France, in 1866, unmarried. Lord 

 Brougham pronounced Grant to be ' the purest 

 statesman ne had ever known.' He was an 

 eloquent speaker, though, partly from diffidence 

 and partly from indolence, he spoke but seldom. 

 Some of his despatches as colonial secretary, on the 

 rights of the natives in the colonies, on repressing 

 idolatry, and abolishing slavery throughout the 

 British possessions in South Africa, are models of 

 elevated and just thought, and of fine impressive 

 English. 



Grant, SIR FRANCIS, fourth son of Francis 

 Grant of Kilgraston, Perthshire, was born in Edin- 

 burgh on 18th January 1803. He was educated 

 at Harrow and the university of Edinburgh for the 

 Scottish bar, but abandoned that profession to 

 follow his natural genius for painting. A noble 

 portrait by Velasquez is said to have exercised an 

 especial influence over the young painter's future 

 career. His first picture was exhibited in 1834, 

 when he at once took rank among the best portrait- 

 painters of the day, and was regarded as a worthy 

 successor of Lawrence. His most famous works 

 are those in which he has combined the like- 

 nesses of distinguished characters with scenes of 

 English sport. The 'Meet of H.M. Staghounds,' 



