Sir Alexander Grant, 10th Baronet,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(23 September 1826 – 30 November 1884) was a British landowner and historian who served as Principal of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1868 to 1884. He had strong links to India, especially

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

Biography

Early life

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the son of Sir Robert Innes Grant, 9th Baronet of Dalvey, and his wife, Judith Towers Battelle. His early education took place in America and the family then returned to Britain. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

from 1839 to 1845 then went to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

graduating BA in 1848 and MA in 1852. He made a special study of the

Aristotelian philosophy Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics. It covers the treatment of the soc ...

, and in 1857 published an edition of ''The Ethics of Aristotle: Illustrated with Essays and Notes'' (4th ed. 1885) which became a standard text-book at Oxford. In 1855 he was one of the examiners for the Indian Civil Service, and in 1856 a public examiner in

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

at Oxford. His father became 9th Baronet of Dalvey in 1854 on the death of his brother,

Sir Alexander Grant, 8th Baronet Sir Alexander Cray Grant, 8th Baronet (13 November 1782 – 29 November 1854) was a British politician and plantation owner in the West Indies. Life He was born in 1782 in West Alvington, Devon, the eldest son of Sir Alexander Grant, 7th Baron ...

. When his father died in 1856 Alexander became the 10th baronet.

India

In 1859 he went to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

with Sir Charles Trevelyan, and was appointed inspector of schools; the next year he moved to

, to fill the post of

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of History and Political Economy in the

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

. Of this he became Principal in 1862; and, a year later, vice-chancellor of

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

, a post he held from 1863 to 1865 and again from 1865 to 1868. In 1865 he was appointed Director of Public Instruction for Bombay. In 1866 he served as Vice Chancellor of

. In 1868 he was appointed a Member of the

Bombay Legislative Council Bombay Legislative Council was the legislature of the Bombay Province and later the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Bombay Province in British India and the Indian state of Bombay. History The Indian Councils Act 1861 set up the B ...

Edinburgh and final years

In 1868, upon the death of Sir

David Brewster Sir David Brewster Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order, KH President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, PRSE Fellow of the Royal Society of London, FRS Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA Scot Fellow of the Scottish Society of ...

, he was appointed Principal of

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

. From that time till his death, much of his energies were devoted to the well-being of the University. The institution of the new medical school in the University (at Teviot Place) was almost solely due to his initiative; and the

Tercentenary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

Festival, celebrated in 1884, was the result of his enthusiasm. In that year he published ''The Story of the University of Edinburgh during its First Three Hundred Years''. In 1869 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, his proposer being Sir

Robert Christison Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1797 – 27 January 1882) was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1838–40 and 1846–8) and as president of the British ...

. He twice served as Vice President of the Society: 1870 to 1874 and 1876 to 1881. From 1872 (following the Scottish Education Act of that year) he was a Member of the Board of Education, overseeing a huge programme of school construction across Scotland. He sat on the board until 1878, by which time the construction period was drawing to an end. From 1875 until his death in 1884 he served as the inaugural vice-president of the newly emerged conservationist body the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association, often subtitled Edinburgh Civic Trust, is an architectural, conservation, and urban planning monitoring organisation in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. The Cockburn Association, founded in 1875, is one o ...

. He died at his Edinburgh address of 21 Lansdowne Crescent in the west end of the city. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Honorary degrees

* 1865 – Honorary LLD,

* 1880 – Honorary DCL,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

* 1882 – Honorary Fellow,

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

Family

In 1859 Grant was married to Susan Ferrier, daughter of

James Frederick Ferrier James Frederick Ferrier (16 June 1808 – 11 June 1864) was a Scottish metaphysical writer and philosopher. He introduced the word ''epistemology'' in philosophical English, as well as coining agnoiology for the study of ignorance. Education a ...

. They had eight children. Their two first sons died in infancy. The six remaining children were: *

Sir Ludovic James Grant, 11th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

(1862-1936) *Julia Mary Grant (1864-1952) *Sylvia Grant (1867-1935) *Dr Percy Frere Grant (1869-1909) * Sir Hamilton Grant, 12th Baronet (1872-1937) *Susan Ferrier Grant (1873-1968)

Personal life

A keen golfer, Grant was a regular at the Elie Golf Club and was caddied by a young

Archie Simpson Archibald Simpson (14 March 1866 – January 1955) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was also a golf course designer and a golf club maker. He was runner-up in The Open Championship in 1885 (won by Bob Martin), and 1890 (won by J ...

for many years, his favourite.

Recognition

Grant is remembered at the

to this day with two buildings named after him: Grant House in

Pollock Halls of Residence Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as "pollock" in North America, Ireland and the United Ki ...

, and the Grant Institute (Geology).

References

External links

* Sir Alexander Grant, ''The Ethics of Aristotle: Illustrated with Essays and Notes''
Vol.1
4th ed. 1885
Vol.2
3rd ed. 1874 {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Alexander 1826 births 1884 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

210 Year 210 ( CCX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Faustinus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 963 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 210 for this y ...

People educated at Harrow School Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Principals of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Bombay Legislative Council