Grant
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Grant Genealogy
Grant is a Scottish clan name. But there has been no agreement as to where these Grants came from; nor where in fact the Grant name came from.
Some have maintained that the Grants were of Norman origin, having moved north from England in the 13th century. However, this theory has been increasingly discounted. Instead, a Norse origin is now thought more likely. This was always part of the Grant oral tradition. And recent DNA analysis would seem to support this idea.
If the Norman origin is to be discounted in Scotland, then a French-type root such as "grand" or "le grand," meaning tall or large, is unlikely. So too would be the Anglo-Saxon grant, meaning crooked or bowed. Grant tradition has suggested that the name may have come from Sliabh Grianas, the name of a meadow above Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands. And the Norse gran, meaning a fir tree, has also been mooted.
In old Irish, grandha signified ugly or ill-favored, grande dark or swarthy. From these roots may have come clan Grant and the sub-sept clan Chiaran.
Select Grant Resources on The Internet
Scotland. Whatever their origin, members of clan Grant have owned land in the Scottish Highlands in Strathspey since at least 1316, most likely at Stratherrick to the east of Loch Ness. Their support of Robert the Bruce enabled them to secure these landholdings. Their base, Grant Castle in Strathpey, still stands; as does Ballindalloch castle, the home of the MacPherson Grants.
The Grants were not decimated, as were some other Highland clans, by the convulsions which occurred during the 18th century. Many Grants had supported the Lowland Covenanters and then took the English side during the Jacobite uprisings (although some did take the other side). Clan Grant was one of the few clans not to be affected by the Highland clearances. The so-called "Good Sir James" Grant built the town of Grantown-on-Spey for the purpose of developing a textile industry in the north and thereby preventing his kinsmen from emigrating. Some Grants did move elsewhere or leave. But more than half of the Grants in Scotland were still to be found in the Highlands by the end of the nineteenth century.
The Grants of Rothiemurchus still hold their lands around Aviemore; and other branches of the family hold lands in Strathpey. William Grant from the Grant clan founded his Glenfiddich whisky business in the late 19th century. The Bloomsbury painter Duncan Grant came from the Rothiemurchus Grants, the actor Hugh Grant from the Glenmoriston Grants.
England. The Grants were not exclusively a Scottish name. Richard le Grand was the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1229. A Grant family in Warwickshire produced John Grant, one on the Gunpowder plotters. By the 18th century, the surname appeared mainly in the south, in Devon (particularly in Diptford) and in Hampshire, and around London. But there were hardly any Grants to be found in East Anglia or the Midlands where, it had been argued, Norman Grants had migrated north to Scotland. Later Grants in England may well have gone the other way from Scotland. One such example was Robert Grant, an early mentor of Charles Darwin, who had come from Scotland and founded the Grant zoological museum in London in 1827.
Ireland. There were also Irish Grants. Unlike the Scottish Grants, these do seem to have been a Norman implant, being among the Strongbow invaders in 1170. They became landowners at Iverk in county Kilkenny. After the Cromwellian confiscations, Grants moved onto Tipperary and Offaly.
The nineteenth century saw an out-migration, to Canada, America, and Australia. Many were sent to Australia as convicts. John Grant narrowly escaped this fate, as the following entry reveals:
Within Ireland, Grants today are mainly to be found around Waterford and in Shinrone in county Offaly.
America. Matthew Grant arrived from Devon in 1630 and became the town surveyor for Windsor, Connecticut. His descendants moved, after the Revolutionary War, to Pennsylvania and then to Ohio where Ulysses Grant, Lincoln's General and later American President, was born in 1822.
Whiskey was said to be his weakness. When Lincoln heard about Grant's habit, he was reported to have said: "Find out what brand he drinks so I can give it to the rest of my generals." Grant's funeral in 1885 drew 1.5 million people on its six mile parade through New York City. He is buried there in Grant's Tomb on Riverside Drive.
Ludovic Grant, a Jacobite supporter during the 1715 uprising, was captured, lost his lands, and then was banished from Scotland. He departed on the Susannah for South Carolina. There, in the rough-and-tumble of frontier life, he became a successful trader with the Cherokee Indians. William Grant came to North Carolina after the Jacobite defeat in 1745 and married Daniel Boone's sister, Elizabeth.
Canada. There were several Grants from Strathpey who became active in the Canadian fur trade in the 1770's (including Cuthbert Grant, an early trader in the Canadian West). Captain John Grant, an Empire Loyalist, came to Summerville, Novia Scotia, in 1784. His descendants lived there until 1866. Around that time, another Grant family from Nova Scotia departed for Trinidad in the Caribbean where they started the trading company T. Geddes Grant. This Trinidad company still flourishes.
Australia. The early Grant arrivals had been convicts. John Grant had shot a London lawyer in the buttocks and been sentenced to death at the Old Bailey. His petition that it had been a crime of passion over a woman led to his sentence being reduced to life transportation. He arrived in New South Wales with a harpsichord in 1803 and was one of the few convicts to record his impressions of the early colony (This Beauteous, Wicked Place: Letters and Journals of John Grant, Gentleman Convict).
Select Grant Miscellany
Select Grant Names
Richard Le Grant was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1229.
Sir Ian Grant, sheriff of Inverness in 1434, was the first authenticated chief of the Grant clan.
Charles Grant, the son of a Jacobite killed at Culloden, joined the British East India Company and rose to be its chairman.
Ulysses B. Grant was Lincoln's General during the Civil War and later American President.
James Grant was the Victorian explorer who with John Speke discovered the source of the Nile.
Cary Grant the actor was born in England Archie Leach.
Eddy Grant, the reggae artist, made his name with the 1983 hit Electric Avenue.
Hugh Grant is the English actor of films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill.
Select Grants Today
Select Index of Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames
Grant is a Scottish clan name. But there has been no agreement as to where these Grants came from; nor where in fact the Grant name came from.
Some have maintained that the Grants were of Norman origin, having moved north from England in the 13th century. However, this theory has been increasingly discounted. Instead, a Norse origin is now thought more likely. This was always part of the Grant oral tradition. And recent DNA analysis would seem to support this idea.
If the Norman origin is to be discounted in Scotland, then a French-type root such as "grand" or "le grand," meaning tall or large, is unlikely. So too would be the Anglo-Saxon grant, meaning crooked or bowed. Grant tradition has suggested that the name may have come from Sliabh Grianas, the name of a meadow above Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands. And the Norse gran, meaning a fir tree, has also been mooted.
In old Irish, grandha signified ugly or ill-favored, grande dark or swarthy. From these roots may have come clan Grant and the sub-sept clan Chiaran.
Select Grant Resources on The Internet
- Clan Grant UK. UK clan Grant website.
- Clan Grant History and Culture. Adam Grant's website.
- Clan Grant USA. US clan Grant website.
- Grant Genealogy in Ireland. History and genealogy of the Grants in Ireland.
- Ulysses S. Grant Genealogy. Matthew to Ulysses Grant.
Scotland. Whatever their origin, members of clan Grant have owned land in the Scottish Highlands in Strathspey since at least 1316, most likely at Stratherrick to the east of Loch Ness. Their support of Robert the Bruce enabled them to secure these landholdings. Their base, Grant Castle in Strathpey, still stands; as does Ballindalloch castle, the home of the MacPherson Grants.
The Grants were not decimated, as were some other Highland clans, by the convulsions which occurred during the 18th century. Many Grants had supported the Lowland Covenanters and then took the English side during the Jacobite uprisings (although some did take the other side). Clan Grant was one of the few clans not to be affected by the Highland clearances. The so-called "Good Sir James" Grant built the town of Grantown-on-Spey for the purpose of developing a textile industry in the north and thereby preventing his kinsmen from emigrating. Some Grants did move elsewhere or leave. But more than half of the Grants in Scotland were still to be found in the Highlands by the end of the nineteenth century.
The Grants of Rothiemurchus still hold their lands around Aviemore; and other branches of the family hold lands in Strathpey. William Grant from the Grant clan founded his Glenfiddich whisky business in the late 19th century. The Bloomsbury painter Duncan Grant came from the Rothiemurchus Grants, the actor Hugh Grant from the Glenmoriston Grants.
England. The Grants were not exclusively a Scottish name. Richard le Grand was the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1229. A Grant family in Warwickshire produced John Grant, one on the Gunpowder plotters. By the 18th century, the surname appeared mainly in the south, in Devon (particularly in Diptford) and in Hampshire, and around London. But there were hardly any Grants to be found in East Anglia or the Midlands where, it had been argued, Norman Grants had migrated north to Scotland. Later Grants in England may well have gone the other way from Scotland. One such example was Robert Grant, an early mentor of Charles Darwin, who had come from Scotland and founded the Grant zoological museum in London in 1827.
Ireland. There were also Irish Grants. Unlike the Scottish Grants, these do seem to have been a Norman implant, being among the Strongbow invaders in 1170. They became landowners at Iverk in county Kilkenny. After the Cromwellian confiscations, Grants moved onto Tipperary and Offaly.
The nineteenth century saw an out-migration, to Canada, America, and Australia. Many were sent to Australia as convicts. John Grant narrowly escaped this fate, as the following entry reveals:
"John Grant, a United Irishman, was
arrested in 1798 and imprisoned in Geneva barracks, Waterford. His wife
Judith petitioned against transportation because they had six small
destitute children. On payment of a £50 fine and the swearing of
allegience, his sentence was voided."
Within Ireland, Grants today are mainly to be found around Waterford and in Shinrone in county Offaly.
America. Matthew Grant arrived from Devon in 1630 and became the town surveyor for Windsor, Connecticut. His descendants moved, after the Revolutionary War, to Pennsylvania and then to Ohio where Ulysses Grant, Lincoln's General and later American President, was born in 1822.
Whiskey was said to be his weakness. When Lincoln heard about Grant's habit, he was reported to have said: "Find out what brand he drinks so I can give it to the rest of my generals." Grant's funeral in 1885 drew 1.5 million people on its six mile parade through New York City. He is buried there in Grant's Tomb on Riverside Drive.
Ludovic Grant, a Jacobite supporter during the 1715 uprising, was captured, lost his lands, and then was banished from Scotland. He departed on the Susannah for South Carolina. There, in the rough-and-tumble of frontier life, he became a successful trader with the Cherokee Indians. William Grant came to North Carolina after the Jacobite defeat in 1745 and married Daniel Boone's sister, Elizabeth.
Canada. There were several Grants from Strathpey who became active in the Canadian fur trade in the 1770's (including Cuthbert Grant, an early trader in the Canadian West). Captain John Grant, an Empire Loyalist, came to Summerville, Novia Scotia, in 1784. His descendants lived there until 1866. Around that time, another Grant family from Nova Scotia departed for Trinidad in the Caribbean where they started the trading company T. Geddes Grant. This Trinidad company still flourishes.
Australia. The early Grant arrivals had been convicts. John Grant had shot a London lawyer in the buttocks and been sentenced to death at the Old Bailey. His petition that it had been a crime of passion over a woman led to his sentence being reduced to life transportation. He arrived in New South Wales with a harpsichord in 1803 and was one of the few convicts to record his impressions of the early colony (This Beauteous, Wicked Place: Letters and Journals of John Grant, Gentleman Convict).
Select Grant Miscellany
If you would like to read more, click on the miscellany page for
further stories and accounts:
Select Grant Names
Richard Le Grant was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1229.
Sir Ian Grant, sheriff of Inverness in 1434, was the first authenticated chief of the Grant clan.
Charles Grant, the son of a Jacobite killed at Culloden, joined the British East India Company and rose to be its chairman.
Ulysses B. Grant was Lincoln's General during the Civil War and later American President.
James Grant was the Victorian explorer who with John Speke discovered the source of the Nile.
Cary Grant the actor was born in England Archie Leach.
Eddy Grant, the reggae artist, made his name with the 1983 hit Electric Avenue.
Hugh Grant is the English actor of films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill.
Select Grants Today
- 63,000 in the UK (most numerous in Falkirk)
- 41,000 in America (most numerous in Florida)
- 42,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Australia)
Select Index of Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames