[65] SO FAR, WE HAVE WRITTEN about the Chiefs in chronological order. Now we must put in some notes about the principal cadet families, as far as I know them.
1. The Grants Of Monymusk
This important family have hardly been mentioned in the foregoing history, but the House of Monymusk, together with Ballindalloch Castle, are now the last two occupied ancestral homes of the Grants (if one disregards the Glen- moristons, who live on the site of the original Invermoriston House, rebuilt after being burned down.) We must hope long may they so remain, to uphold the flag. The Ballindallochs now regard themselves as more Macpherson than Grant, so correctly one ought to rule them out, thus leaving Monymusk in isolation. The Earl of Seafield lives in Old Cullen, which used to be the factor's house, although almost a mansion. Cullen House started as a castle built about 1205 to defend the nearby monastery.
The first Monymusk Grant was Archibald Grant of Ballintomb, the youngest son of James Grant, third of Freuchie (1528-1553). The Monymusk Estate was purchased in 1713 by Sir Francis Grant (first Baronet of Monymusk, and, as a lord of the Court of Session, also Lord Cullen), from his friend, Sir William Forbes of Monymusk. Lord Cullen's son, Sir Archibald Grant, was the famous agricultural reformer. He introduced the turnip to Scotland, and he is reputed to have planted several million trees during his lifetime. It is of interest that the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, immortalised in his novel Catriona the three beautiful daughters of Lord Preston-Grange, the younger brother of Sir Archibald, the second Baronet of Monymusk, and a law lord.
The present Sir Archibald Grant, 13th Baronet, was born in 1954, and succeeded his father in 1966. It is he who now lives in the house. Before leaving the Monymusks, one ought to mention their cadets, the Grants of Arndilly. Arndilly is a superb castle overlooking the Spey, near Rothes, and [66] became the seat of the Menzies (pronounced 'Mingies') through marriage to a Grant in the last century. Arndilly was sold a few years ago to another family, and the Menzies of Menzies now lives in Australia. My cousin, Nina, took us to Arndilly once to a party, and so we had an opportunity to see the interior of this magnificent structure.
2. The Grants of Glenmoriston and their Cadets, the Grants of Knockie
This cadet family have a long and interesting history, which is fully described in the book by Mackay already mentioned. We have spoken of John Mor Grant in the record of John Grant, second of Freuchie, above. John Mor's son, Iain Mor, received a charter to the lands of Glenmoriston and Glenurquart, and from him the present line descends. James Ewan Grant is the present 14th Laird of Glenmoriston. He was born in 1914, and succeeded to the estate. and chieftainship in 1953.
Invermoriston House was burnt out in 1931, and a new house was built in 1958; so the Grant banner is also flying here on the site of the ancestral mansion of the Glenmoristons. Long may it do so, in this ancient Clan Grant locality. It ought to be added that the Glenmoristons, separated by Loch Ness and several mountains from Strathspey, were, therefore, outside the immediate influence and easy command of the Chiefs of the Clan. Thus they have, over the centuries, tended to act as a clan on their own. They were, in fact, pretty powerful, as it is known that in the Jacobite Rebellion they fielded 300 fighting men.
One rather wonders what they did against their friend and neighbour, Glengarry, who so often was a thorn in the side of the Chiefs, as the Macdonells are recorded on various occasions as raiding the Chief's estate and tenantry in Glenurquart, just north of Glenmoriston. The Glenmoristons hid the 'Bonnie Prince' up their glen for quite a time, and are still in possession of the cooking pot he used, and of miniature paintings of the prince and Patrick Grant.
3. The Grants of Dalvey
Here is another cadet family which is very much alive, in the person of Sir Patrick Grant, 14th Baronet of Nova Scotia, and his numerous brothers and sisters. He was born in 1953. The first Dalvey was Patrick Grant, the second son of the first Grant of Ballindalloch, first recorded of 'Dalvey' in 1537. Dalvey Estate was sold in 1680, and replaced by the estate of Dunlugas, and in 1701 was re-purchased and then sold again when the fifth Baronet was in Jamaica in 1788. For a time the Dalveys owned Polmaillie House, Glenur- quart. It is now an hotel. In recent years we had the pleasure of staying there with them, over an extremely cold festive season.
[67] 4. The Grants of Rothiemurchus
This family was founded by Patrick Grant, who lived at Muckrach Castle. This fortalice can still be observed just west of Muckrach shooting lodge, now an hotel. He received a charter for these lands from his father, John Grant, fourth of Freuchie, and shortly afterwards removed to Rothiemurchus. There have been a great many distinguished scions of this family. It is good to record that they still reside at Rothiemurchus, where John Grant, Younger of Rothiemurchus runs the estate himself. His father lives nearby. Their mansion. house, 'The Doune', has long been in disrepair, but since 1981 has been under- going refurbishment. Muckrach Castle has been rebuilt by the new owner.
5. The Grants of Ballindalloch
This important family is still the proprietor of the Ballindalloch estates, which is centred around the part where the river Avon enters the Spey, with its magnificent old castle. In brief, the second daughter of William Grant (first of Ballindalloch), married a son of Macpherson of Invereshie in 1731, and her grandson succeeded to both Ballindalloch and Invereshie, and became the first Baronet of Ballindalloch of the United Kingdom in 1838, when he assumed the name of Grant. The present baronet, Sir Ewan Macpherson-Grant, succeeded his cousin, Sir George, in 1951. However, Ballindalloch must be recorded here as the name has so frequently come into our history, the first one being Colonel William Grant, the second son of James Grant, third of Rothiemurchus, so they were not descended directly from the Chief as were the majority of the cadet families. Sir Ewan Macpherson Grant, sixth Baronet, who was born in 1907, regards himself more of a Macpherson than a Grant, which is a very sad break in ancient tradition. Through the ages Ballindalloch has always been regarded as the Chief's principal supporter, or Clan Captain, as will have been clear to readers of this history, and so perhaps he ought to be shared with the Macphersons. This is not the place to argue the point, but he is recorded in the current history book of Clan Macpherson as representing their Invereshie branch.
6. The Grants of Gartenbeg
I have received a history and family tree of this family from Rear-Admiral John Grant, C.B., D.S.O., together with his kind permission to reproduce it in this book. It serves to show not only how well this sort of research can be set out, but also what an important history so many Grants have had. It is hoped that this family tree (on the next two pages) will help those who are checking as to their own antecedents and do not quite know how to set about the task.
[68] and [69]
View this family tree as a PDF
[70] Grants of Gartenbeg: History of the Descendants of Duncan Grant's Second Wife
Published records of the earlier part of this genealogy have been incomplete and incorrect, possibly owing to conflicting claims to the Dalvey baronetcy (1688), which does not appear to have descended in accordance with the normal rules, bearing in mind, firstly, that Sir James Grant, the first baronet, was the grandson of John Beg Grant, and that, secondly, Sir James's cousin, Sweton Grant of Cabrach, was actually retoured his heir. In particular, no mention is made of the de jure third baronet, Sweton Grant of Cabrach's close and full blood relatives-his uncle Sweton of Gartenbeg and his cousins, Sweton of Gartenbeg's son, John of Lynchurn, and his grandson, Sweton of Lynchurn, in Sir William Fraser's Chiefs of Grant. Whether or not these omissions are connected with the movements of the Dalvey baronetcy must remain a matter for conjecture.
However, Sweton Grant of Lynchurn (Donald of Kinveachie's great grandson and Sweton of Cabrach's cousin) is said to have proceeded to Inverness to have his service prepared after attending Sweton of Cabrach's funeral as his heir and, in that capacity, brought away the deceased's spurs and guns, and also the sword captured by John Beg Grant from McLean of Duart at the battle of Glenlivet in 1594. While at Inverness, however, he is said to have contracted an illness which compelled him to return home to Lynchurn before the proceedings were completed, and he died shortly after arrival. This was in 1725. By his wife, Elizabeth (the daughter of Alexander Jackson of Miltown, Castle Grant), Sweton of Lychurn had two daughters and a son, James. However, at the time of his father's sudden death, James was only an infant. Moreover, his mother, Elizabeth, married again and evidently the matter of the baronetcy was set aside for the time being, and it then, unfortunately, became 'overtaken by events'.
James Grant (1723-1782) went to school in Duthil and then to college in Aberdeen. In 1740, when he was 17 and about to join the recently embodied Black Watch, he had the misfortune to be 'forcibly taken' and put on shipboard and landed in Holland, where he was impressed into the army of Frederick the Great (King of Prussia). Subsequently, he was taken prisoner by the army of the Queen of Bohemia, and after many adventures he managed to get back to Scotland in about 1756.
During James's long absence, when it would well have been presumed that he was no longer alive, the dormant baronetcy of Dalvey was, in 1752, secured by a descendant of Duncan Grant of Gartenbeg's first wife, a half blood relative of the first baronet, who was a descendant of Duncan's second wife. Some eight years later, and after James had reappeared, a printed memorial, dated 8 August 1760, was, at the instigation of James Grant's half brother, Alexander Cumming, son of James's mother by her second husband, James Cumming, [71] submitted for James Grant Claimant against Alexander Grant of Dalvey'. However, the proceedings appear to have been halted by arrangement and possibly influence. In this connection it is of interest that, after Sir Alexander's first wife died, he married Margaret, a younger sister of James Grant's wife, Penuel. He had no children by either his first wife or by his second, and was succeeded by his brother.
After re-joining the Black Watch for a period, James was, on 26 April 1762, commissioned adjutant of the 87th Regiment, or 'Murray Keith's Highlanders'. He married Penuel Grant in 1763, who was the elder daughter of Alexander Grant of Auchterblair of the Clan Alan, and grand-daughter of William Grant of Lurg. (The Grants of Lurg are descended from Robert, second son of the 13th Laird of Grant and the Grants of Auchterblair from Sir Alan, second son of the third Laird of Grant, c. 1297.)
In 1774 James Grant and his wife decided to emigrate to America with their six children. They bought, or rented, a farm from a Colonel Abraham Ten Broek of Albany. James was then 51 and his wife 31, and, after his many years of war service, their intention was, no doubt, to lead a reasonably quiet and uneventful life. In 1775, the American Revolution broke out, and James Grant, having only recently retired from the 87th Highlanders, no doubt felt that his only course of action was to proceed to New York to join the king's forces, leaving his wife and family on the farm in the care of the Ten Broeks. James was first assigned to the Royal Navy (in place of a wounded officer), who were engaged in the forcing of the Hudson River passage. However, he was eventually appointed as adjutant of the King's American Regiment, a locally- raised formation under the command of a lawyer from the south, with good connections, named Edmund Fanning.
After taking part with the regiment in many of the campaigns in the north and nearly all of them in the south, James Grant, who had had, during a period of some 42 years, nearly 20 years, at the very least, on active military service, 'at length sank under the fatigue and hardships of the service and died upon his passage from Savannah after the evacuation of that place'. He died at Charleston, South Carolina, on 31 July 1782. Not long after her husband left the farm his wife, Penuel, heard that her two elder boys, Alexander and Sweton, although still in their early 'teens, were also commissioned in the King's American Regiment as loyalist soldiers, and she decided that it would be preferable to risk taking them through about 170 miles of country held by the 'Patriots' to join her husband in New York.
Sometimes walking, and at other on horseback without saddles, Penuel and her boys pursued their way until, near the ferry crossing of the Hackinsach river, they were observed and hailed by enemy scouts. They continued until a sentinel presented his piece at Mrs. Grant, and it subsequently misfired three times. Penuel and her two boys then felt obliged to surrender and were placed under restraint. They managed to escape and succeeded in covering the [72] remaining 49 miles to Long Island. During this hazardous journey, Mrs. Grant had in her possession the silver token that passed between the British commanders and was thus the means of conveying it safely into the hands of Sir Henry Clinton.
The younger children were left at the farm in charge of the servants and committed to the care of the Congress and Colonel Ten Broek. They were subsequently sent to their mother 'by orders of General Washington and with all the comfort which his benevolent nature could provide for them'.
Penuel Grant, James's widow, remained in New York for a period after his death (in fact, she gave birth to her youngest child in New York on the same day). She expressed the desire to be sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Colonel Edmund Fanning (who had commanded the King's American Regiment) was now Lieutenant-Governor. She had five sons and three daughters and three servants, together with 'furniture for two rooms and a kitchen, one horse and a chair, if they could be carried with convenience'. The family were taken to Halifax and later the two elder boys went to be be planters in Antigua, while the rest of the family were repatriated to London. Penuel died there in her 81st year, on 21 February 1824.
In Antigua, Alexander (James's and Penuel's eldest son) married Elvira Payne, the daughter of John Payne, another planter of that island. They had two sons, who were born there. The elder, John, died in infancy, and the younger, James, became an officer in the British army. As mentioned previously, Alexander and Sweton had been in the King's American Regiment. In 1792, some eight or nine years after they went to Antigua, they were both called for service in the army under Sir Charles Grey. In 1794, both brothers were killed during Grey's attack on the French at Point à Petre, Guadaloup. Alexander's wife, Elvira, had died in 1792. Alexander and Elvira's younger son, James, was educated in England at the Royal Military College at Marlow, Bucks. He served in the Peninsular War during the campaign in 1811, including Fuentes d'Honores and Badajoz, where he was one of the officers of the storming party who so gallantly attacked Fort Christoval. In 1813, he was attracted to the 'Patriots', helping Simon Bolivar in South America, and eventually, in 1819, he joined them. He was never heard of again.
Yet another connection is provided with Antigua by John, who was James's and Penuel's fourth son, born in American in 1775. He married Margaret, daughter of Samuel Auckinleck, Esq., of Belvedere Plantation, Antigua, while a captain in the 78th Highlanders, and on service in the West Indies. Samuel Auchinleck's wife, Margaret's mother, was a god-daughter of General Wolff of Quebec fame.
The youngest of James's and Penuel's family, Duncan, was born in New York six hours after the death of his father. He went to Halifax with his mother and later to London. Duncan became a 'Gentleman Cadet' of the Royal Artillery in 1798, and obtained his commission as a second lieutenant in 1801.
[73] He had a full and varied military career, mostly abroad, including command of the Royal Artillery at Gibraltar, and in the West Indies, with headquarters at Barbados. He became a major-general in 1854. General Duncan Grant married Cecilia Wills of Truro, Cornwall, in 1818, and they had four children, only the youngest of whom had descendants. John Marshall Grant followed his father into the army, but as a Royal Engineer (sapper and miner) rather than a gunner. His army career was also largely spent abroad; indeed, he was born at sea in a military transport, on the way round the Cape of Good Horn to the Island of Mauritius, where his father was stationed. John Marshall was married, in 1849, by the Bishop of Barbados, to Emily Cumming, daughter of Alexander Cumming, who was a planter in the Caribbean Windward Island of St Vincent. Emily's sister, Margaret, married Richard Egerton (sometime major-general, Deputy Adjutant General to the Forces, and Military Secretary). Their sons included Field-Marshal Sir Charles (C.-in-C. India), Admiral Sir George (C.-in-C. Plymouth, and a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty), Sir Brian, K.C.I.E., and Sir Reginald Egerton, head of the post office in Ireland. The years 1858 to 1863 were spent by John Marshall with a 'Sapper' contingent he commanded, opening up the west coast of Canada. They took part in the ceremonies in connection with the official birth of the colony of British Columbia. Having surveyed and laid out the city of New Westminster, they deepened the channel through the shoals of the Harrison River and constructed a number of roads. The governor wrote, in a report to the Duke of Newcastle, of 'works of magnitude of the utmost public utility which were laid out and executed by Captain Grant and the Detachment of Royal Engineers under his command with a degree of care and professional ability reflecting the highest credit on that active and indefatigable Officer'.
Colonel J. M. Grant, as he became, and his wife, Emily, had nine children, the eldest being Suene Grant, who also became a colonel in the Royal Engineers, and spent nearly all his working life in India. He was born in 1851 and died in 1919. Suene and his wife, Caroline, daughter of Colonel Napper of the Bengal Staff Corps, had two sons and daughters, the younger of whom died in infancy. His elder son, John Duncan Grant, 4th Gurkha Rifles (and, later, colonel of the 10th Gurkha Rifles) was awarded the Victoria Cross for his conduct at the storming of the Gyantse Jong in Tibet in 1904. He led the attack up a bare, precipitous, rock face, and, later, although himself wounded, assisted a wounded Gurkha under enemy fire. Some years later, he gained the D.S.O. during an action in Waziristan, and he served in various theatres throughout the 1939/45 War. Born in 1877, Colonel John (Jack) Duncan Grant died in 1967, in his 89th year.
John Marshall Grant's second son was Arthur (1865-1948), who served in the 4th Gurkha Rifles and then in the 1st Dorchester Regiment. He retired as a lieutenant-colonel and travelled widely. He married late in life. One of John Marshall's daughter was Alice Grant, who was a noted portrait painter, [74] and many of her works were hung in the Royal Academy, and she was also accepted by the Salon de Paris. Her work was prolific and in addition to portraits and landscapes, etc., in oils, as well as many still-life studies, and exquisite miniatures. She was able to paint portraits of all her contemporary relatives.
Colonel J. M. Grant died in 1901 in his 79th year, while his youngest son, Philip Gordon Grant, who had also joined the Royal Engineers and had previously served in India, was taking part in the South African War. He is mentioned in the official history for removing the explosive charges from the Bethulie bridge which the Boers had prepared for demolition. He had to be lowered through holes in the roadway by a rope round his waist. Philip Gordon was born in 1869, and went to the Royal Military Academy. In addition to service in India and South Africa, he spent a number of years, prior to the 1914-18 War, in the Aden Hinterland, Somaliland, Egypt, and the Sudan. He spoke fluent Arabic and, while serving in the Egyptian army, raised the engineer or 'Sapper' contingent of the Sudan Defence Force. When the Great War of 1914-18 began, Philip was invited by Lord Horne, who commanded the Fifth Army, to be his chief engineer, and he remained with that army throughout the war, ending as Chief Engineer, British Forces in France and Belgium, with the rank of major-general. There followed a period of about three years which is now being studied by the British Association, when General Philip Grant was lent to the British Mandate in Jerusalem as Director of Public Works. His next appointment (1923-1927) was as General Officer Commanding the Chatham Area, Commandant of the School of Military Engineering, and Inspector of Royal Engineers. This was followed by four years at the War Office as Director of Fortifications and Works after which (in 1932) he retired with a knighthood.
Philip Grant married, in 1907, Annette Coventry, whose ancestors include the Earls of Coventry, Lords St John of Bletso, Lord Seton, the Earls of Dunfermline, and the Welds of Lulworth. Sir Philip and Lady Grant had five children, three daughters and two sons: John, born 1908, and Peter, born 1909. Peter, the younger, took a scholarship for Cheltenham and passed out of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, very successfully. He was made prisoner when Singapore fell, and was held for the remainder of the war in Taiwan, Japan, and Mukden. On repatriation he was appointed to the Staff College and saw service in the War Office. On retirement as a lieutenant- colonel he held an important post, until his second retirement on reaching the age of 60, in the Ministry of Transport. He died in 1973.
John Grant (Sir Philip and Annette Lady Grant's elder son) went to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, from 1922 to 1926, and then to the battle- ship Queen Elizabeth, Sir Roger Keyes's flagship, when Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. During the war, he commanded one of the United States' destroyers, exchanged for western Atlantic bases, and took part in the [75] 'Battle of the Atlantic' against U-boats, as well as British coastal convoys and convoys to Russia and Malta. He also saw service in the anti-submarine school and the Atlantic sea-training bases in Scotland and Ireland. His appointments included the command of a destroyer squadron, captain of the cruiser Cleopatra, and of the Torpedo Anti-Submarine School, H.M.S. Vernon. He attended the Joint Services Staff College and the National Defence College, and from 1957 to 1959 was Naval Adviser to the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, in the Ministry of Defence. Until his retirement in 1960 he was Flag Officer Commanding the Reserve Fleet in the battleship Vanguard, and then the cruiser Sheffield. John retired as a rear-admiral, having gained a D.S.O. during an action at sea with a Russian convoy. He was appointed a C.B. for his service with the Reserve Fleet. Retirement from the Royal Navy was succeeded by about 10 years in the electronics industry, ending with a second retirement in 1970/71. John Grant married Ruth Slade in 1935, and they have two married daughters, Tessa, born 1939, and Grizel, born 1941. They were followed by two sons, Duncan Alexander, born in 1943, and Andrew James, born in 1948. Duncan Alexander Grant is a lieutenant- commander, Royal Naval Reserve, Reserve Decoration, and in addition to seeing much service at sea is very widely travelled, including three times. round the world via Siberia, Afghanistan, and north and south America. He is at present running the Leeward Islands Marine School at St John's Harbour, Antigua, for the Antiguan Government and the British and other Overseas Development Corporations. He is so far unmarried. Andrew James Grant after short service in the Royal Green Jackets married an American girl from Pennsylvania, and having spent a period in the banking world of the U.S.A., as well as taking the Harvard Business Course, now holds a senior appointment with the National Bank of Kuwait. He and his wife, Taveta, now have a son aged three, who is the youngest member of our branch of the Grants of Gartenbeg.
Other Cadet Branches
I have no up-to-date records of the following, nor do I know if they still exist as such. A number of branches died out years ago, and their estates generally reverted back to the Chief. The names given below are those recorded by William Fraser in his exhaustive list of pedigrees of cadet families:
Grants of Wester Elchies, in the parish of Knockando.
Grants of Kinchirdie, in Strathspey.
Grants of Easter Elchies, in the parish of Knockando.
Grants of Lurg, in the parish of Abernethy. (Here one ought to say that the Scottish Tartans Society regard our correct red tartan as that of Grant of [76] Lurg, because there is a painting of Grant of Lurg wearing this sett. However, the fact remains that the red Grant is our correct tartan, though we are also entitled to wear the Black Watch tartan.)
Grants of Arndilly, in the parish of Boharm County of Banff.
Grants of Corriemony, in the parish of Urquart and Glenmoriston, already referred to. The ninth Chieftain of the Corriemonies was G. Wilberforce Grant, who died in the 1920s, and who knew my uncle and my father. I have no further knowledge beyond this fact.
Grants of Sheuglie, in the parish of Urquhart and Glemoriston. They were cadets of Corriemony. I am advised that the last known descendant was Charles Robert Archibald Grant, the son of General Sir Charles John Cecil Grant, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., D.S.O. He died in 1972. He did have a son, who is a monk.
Grants of Tullochgorm, in the parish of Inverallen.
Grants of Carron, in the parish of Knockando. Cadets of Glenmoriston.
Grants of Kinvechy, Dalranchnie, and Inverlaidnan.
Grants of Kilgraston, in the parish of Dunbarney, Perthshire, formerly of Glenlochy Abernethy. The last representative, I am told, died some years ago, and his estates were bequeathed to his cousin, Vice-Admiral Basil Charles Barrington Brooke. The last representative of this sept was John Patrick Nisbet Hamilton Grant, of Drummonie, Kilgraston, Biel Archerfield and Dirleton.
Grants of Auchernach. I am told that the last surviving son in direct line is Richard Grant, a descendant of Lewis Grant of Burnside, who died in 1970. There is also another possible descendant, who lives in Skye.
Perhaps the foregoing list will result in the re-emergence of some of the cadets or septs about whom I know nothing of recent years. There must be a very great number of 'in laws' or distant relations of the families about whom we know little. William Fraser lists the various 'Arms' which each and every cadet family was entitled to bear at that time, 1883.