Robert Grant (1780 - 1838)

Born 15 Jan 1780 in India

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Davidson) Percy — married 11 Aug 1829 (to 9 Jul 1838) in Cantry, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Descendants

Died 9 Jul 1838 at age 58 in Dapodi, Pune, Mahārāshtra, India

Biography

Robert Grant is Notable.

Birth and Parentage

Robert Grant was the son of Charles Grant and his wife Jane, née Fraser. He was born in India, where his father was chairman of the Directors of the Honourable East India Company. He matriculated with his brother Charles at Magdelene College Cambridge from 1795, where, in 1801, he was third wrangler and second Chancellor's medallist, gaining first-class honours in the final year of the university's degree in mathematics.^[1]

Life

He was called to the bar on the same day as his brother Charles, January 30th, 1807.^[1]

He was elected MP for the Elgin Burghs in 1818 and the Inverness Burghs in 1826. He represented Inverness for four years. He was Commissioner of the Board of Control in 1830 and in the same year he was returned for Norwich. The following year, he was returned again for Norwich and for Finsbury in 1832. In his capacity as MP, he was a constant campaigner for the lifting of restrictions on Jews in Britain. ^[2][1]

In 1832 he became Judge Advocate-General and in 1834 he was appointed Governor of Bombay and was knighted.^[3][1]

Marriage and Family

On 11 August 1829, he married Margaret Davidson, in Cantry, Invernessshire, Scotland, daughter of Sir David Davidson and his wife Margaret Rose. ^[4] They had four children:

1. Charles
2. Robert
3. Constance Charemile
4. Sybella Sophia

Death

He died in (Dapodi) Dalpoorie on 9 July 1838, from fever, the result of exposure to the rain,^[5] and was buried in St Mary's Church, Pune (Poona).^[6] He was the author of a volume of sacred poems, edited and published after his death by his older brother Charles. ^[1] One of his most well-known hymns is 'O Worship the King, All Glorious Above', which he was influenced to write by William Kethe’s paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561).^[7]

The Oldest Medical College in Mumbai, India; Grant Medical College is named after Sir Robert Grant^[8]

Ten years after his death, on 8 Aug 1848, his widow Margaret married Josceline William Percy.^[9][10]

Works

• The expediency maintained of continuing the system by which the trade and government of India are now regulated. ^[11]
• Unleavened Bread. A businessman's selfish wife forces her way into upper society.^[12]
• Sacred Poems: ^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Venn, John, A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved from Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
2. ↑ Hansard 1803-2005, Mr Robert Grant., Retrieved from Hansard (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
3. ↑ Discovery. The National Archives. Search results for Sir Robert Grant. Retrieved from The National Archives (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
4. ↑ Margaret Davidson marriage to Mr Robert Grant MP. (Pub. 18 August 1829) Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser. Retrieved from The British Newspaper Archive (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
5. ↑ Berkshire Chronicle, Retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images. Memorial page for Sir Robert Grant (15 Jan 1780–9 Jul 1838), Find a Grave Memorial ID 116481796, citing Saint Marys Church, Pune (Poona), Maharashtra, India ; Maintained by tomasmeister (contributor 47925968). Retrieved from Find a Grave (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
7. ↑ Robert Grant. Retrieved from Hymnary.org (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
8. ↑ Entered by Lucy Lavelle.
9. ↑ Josceline William Percy, 1848 in England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005. FamilySearch Online Database. England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005 citing 1848, quarter 3, vol. 1, p. 216, Marylebone, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
10. ↑ Clare Journal, and Ennis Advertiser. Retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
11. ↑ Grant, Robert, Sir., (1813)., The expediency maintained of continuing the system by which the trade and government of India are now regulated. London: Printed for Black, Parry, and Co. & J. Hatchard. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
12. ↑ 'Unleavened Bread. A businessman's selfish wife forces her way into upper society. (14 Mar 2012) - LibriVox recording. Grant, Robert, Sir,. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.
13. ↑ Grant, Robert, (1844)., Sacred Poems. London: Saunders and Otley. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 16 Mar 2022.

• http://www.electricscotland.com/history/highlands/appendixb.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Grant_(MP)
• http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P11895