View source for James Grant (British Army officer, born 1778)

{{other people|James Grant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=James Grant
|image=James Grant by William Salter.jpg
|caption=
|birth_date=1778
|death_date={{death date and age|1852|04|05|1778|01|01|df=y}}
|birth_place=[[Middlesex]], [[England]]
|death_place=Colham Green, [[Hillingdon]], [[Middlesex]], [[England]]
|placeofburial=St Mary's Church, Hayes, Middlesex
|placeofburial_label=
|nickname=
|allegiance=[[Great Britain]]
|branch=[[British Army|Army]]
|serviceyears=1797–1852
|rank=[[Major-General]]
|unit=
|commands=
|battles=
{{tree list}}
* [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]
** [[Battle of Mallavelly]]
** [[Battle of Seringapatam]]
** Battle of [[Doondia]]
* [[Napoleonic Wars]]
** [[Battle of Maida]]
** [[Battle of Toulouse (1814)|Battle of Toulouse]]
** [[Battle of Waterloo]]
{{tree list/end}}
|awards=[[Order of the Bath|CB]]
|spouse={{marriage|Mary Penelope Blencowe|6 October 1817}}
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
Major-General '''James Grant''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB}} (1778{{snd}}5 April 1852) was born in Middlesex about 1778, the son of James Grant of Dalvey, of the line of the [[Grant Baronets#Grant baronets, of Dalvey, Elgin (1688)|Baronets Grant]] of [[Dalvey, Elgin]], themselves an offshoot of Grant of Grant. His father was an official of the [[East India Company]] and served in India for many years before retiring to [[The Vache|Vache Park, Buckinghamshire]] and later to [[Goldington|Goldington Grange, Hertfordshire]]. His actual mother is not yet known, although his step-mother was Harriet Montagu, daughter of the [[John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich|5th Earl of Sandwich]].
==Army career==
He joined the Army in 1797 and served 5 years in India with the [[King's Own Scottish Borderers|25th Regiment of Foot]]. He saw action at the [[Battle of Mallavelly]], [[Battle of Seringapatam|Siege of Seringapatam]] and at [[Doondia]]. At the storming of the fort of Turnioul, he volunteered and led the assault with fifty dismounted dragoons. Over the course of 3 years, he took part in the capture of more than 15 fortresses. By 1806, he was serving with the [[Royal Scots Fusiliers|21st Fusiliers]] during the Sicilian campaign, which concluded the [[War of the Third Coalition]] with the [[Battle of Maida]]. For 1807–1811, he returned to India with the [[17th Lancers|17th Light Dragoons]]. He returned to Europe in 1811 and joined the [[18th Royal Hussars|18th Hussars]], within the army under the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]]. He saw action at the [[Battle of Toulouse (1814)|Battle of Toulouse]] and the [[Battle of Waterloo]]. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, with effect from the date of Waterloo. He married shortly afterwards and spent his time between France and [[Hillingdon]], where he leased nearby [[Hayes, Hillingdon|Hayes Park House]] from 1829 to 1843. The extended Grant family appear several times in the autobiography of their neighbour, [[Anthony Trollope]].<ref>Autobiography, by Anthony Trollope, p.14 and elsewhere</ref> Grant was promoted to Colonel in 1837 and to Major-General in 1846. He was appointed Governor of [[Scarborough Castle]] and was created [[Order of the Bath|Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.)]]
Throughout these years, he attended the annual 'Waterloo Banquet', hosted by the Duke of Wellington at [[Apsley House]] on the 18 June each year for soldiers who had fought with him at Waterloo. He was present at the 1851 Banquet. He died at his home in Colham Green,<ref>1851 Census: 1851/03/30 General (Army), aged 70 (73?), of Colham Green, Hillingdon, Middlesex - HO107/1697 f.174 p.9</ref> [[Hillingdon]], [[Middlesex]] on the 5 April 1852,<ref>GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1852 3a 11 UXBRIDGE - James Grant, age unknown (74?)</ref> was buried at [[Hayes, Hillingdon#Churches|St Mary's Church, Hayes]], and was remembered by his former comrades at the 1852 Waterloo Banquet, shortly ahead of the Duke's own death.
==Family==
On 6 October 1817 at St Mary's Church, Hayes, Middlesex, he married:
:'''Mary Penelope Blencowe''' (1795–1861), the daughter of Robert Willis Blencowe and his wife Penelope, née Robinson, with issue including:
#'''Mary Grant''' (1819 St Omer, France – 1908 Kew, Surrey) who married [[William Dougal Christie]] in 1841
#'''Anna Charlotte Grant''' (1820 Hayes, Middlesex – 5 Oct 1901 East Grinstead, Sussex), who married Peregrine Birch in 1843
#'''Katherine Emma (Kate) Grant''' (1821 Paris, France – 1903 Devon), who married Rev. John Nutcombe Gould on 2 September 1841, and were the parents of [[James Nutcombe Gould]], the famous actor
#'''Henry James Grant''' (1823 Hillingdon, Middlesex – 1872 Charmouth, Bridport, Dorset), who never married
#'''Charles P. Grant''' (b. 1826 Hillingdon, Middlesex – possibly died Exeter 1883)
#'''Frances Charlotte Barbara Lily Grant''' (1828 Hillingdon, Middlesex – 10 Oct 1910 [[South Stoneham]], Hampshire), who married Alfred Peter Lovekin in 1850
#'''Charlotte Elizabeth Mary Grant''' (1830 Hayes, Middlesex – 1857 Hillingdon, Middlesex), who died unmarried
#'''Owen Edward Grant''' (1831 Hillingdon, Middlesex – 18 Nov 1921 Chelsea, London), who married Adelaide Georgina Higginson in 1862
#'''Montagu Henry Stewart (Monty) Grant''' (1838 Hayes, Middlesex – 1869 Buckinghamshire), who married Mary Statham in 1865
His widow died 18 February 1861 and was buried 25 February 1861 at St Margaret's Church, Uxbridge.
==References==
{{reflist}}
* Obituary in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' XXXVIII p.&nbsp;106, July 1852
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, James}}
[[Category:1778 births]]
[[Category:1852 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British Army major generals]]
[[Category:17th Lancers officers]]
[[Category:18th Royal Hussars officers]]
[[Category:Royal Scots Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:People from Hillingdon]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]
[[Category:King's Own Scottish Borderers officers]]
[[Category:People from Goldington]]
[[Category:Military personnel from London]]
[[Category:People from Chalfont St Giles]]
[[Category:People of the Battle of Waterloo]]
[[Category:18th-century British Army personnel]]