Francis William Ogilvy-Grant, 10th Earl Of Seafield

Francis William Ogilvy-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield, 2nd Baron Strathspey (9 March 1847 – 3 December 1888), styled as Viscount Reidhaven from 1884 to 1888, was a New Zealand farmer, labourer, and ephemeral Scottish peer.

Early life

Francis William Ogilvy-Grant was born at Ash Hill, Kilmallock, County Limerick in 1847, the eldest son of the Hon. James Ogilvy-Grant and his first wife, Caroline Louisa Evans, daughter of Eyre Evans, Esq. of Ash Hill, who died on 6 February 1850. After his education, he served as a midshipman in the Royal Navy and then joined the merchant navy.

Career

Francis ("Frank") Grant, as he was simply known then, arrived in New Zealand in 1870. He bought a farm in the Waiareka Valley in a locality known as Te Aneraki to the west of Oamaru in North Otago. He lost his money through his farming pursuits, and from the late 1870s worked as a labourer in fencing or other available tasks. Some time after the marriage, the impoverished family moved to Oamaru.

He stood twice for election in the electorate to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The first time, he contested the against the incumbent, Samuel Shrimski. When Shrimski was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1885, Grant contested the resulting , but lost against Thomas Hislop.

Later life

In 1884 his cousin, Ian Ogilvy-Grant, 8th Earl of Seafield, died, and the title devolved to the former's uncle, Francis' father. As the heir apparent to the earldom, Grant unexpectedly became Viscount Reidhaven. When his father died on 5 June 1888, he became the Earl of Seafield in the Peerage of Scotland. A subsidiary title was Baron Strathspey in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Seafield died on 3 December 1888 from a heart condition. He is buried at the Oamaru Old Cemetery. He was succeeded by his oldest son in the earldom, James Ogilvy-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield, who at the time was twelve years old. He was fatally wounded in World War I in 1915, and was succeeded in the barony of Strathspey, the baronetcy of Colquhoun and as Chief of Clan Grant by his younger brother Hon. Trevor Ogilvy-Grant. The earldom and the other subsidiary Scottish peerages could be passed on to female heirs, and were inherited by Nina Ogilvy-Grant, 12th Countess of Seafield.

After Lord Seafield died, his wife lived for some time in Auckland and Tauranga before moving to England. She died at Brighton on 16 October 1935.

Personal life

On 24 November 1874 at Te Aneraki, Grant married his first cousin Ann Trevor Corry ('Nina') Evans, daughter of Maj. George Thomas Evans and Louisa Barbara Corry. Together, they had seven children:

* James Ogilvy-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield (1876–1915) who married New Zealand heiress Mary Elizabeth Nina Townend.
* Lady Caroline Louisa Ogilvy-Grant (1877–1945), who died unmarried.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.'' Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3552.
* Trevor Ogilvy-Grant, 4th Baron Strathspey (1879–1948), who married Alice Louisa Hardy-Johnston, daughter of Thomas Masterman Hardy-Johnston, in 1905.
* Lady Sydney Montagu Ogilvy-Grant (1882–1944), who married the Rev. William Spring Rice in 1912.
* Lady Ina Eleanora Ogilvy-Grant (1882–1893), who died young.
* Lady Nina Geraldine Ogilvy-Grant (1884–1951), who married Sir Lees Knowles, 1st Baronet in 1915.
* Hon. John Charles Ogilvy-Grant (1887–1893), who died young.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seafield, Francis William Ogilvy-Grant, 10th Earl
1847 births
1888 deaths
Francis
10
19th-century New Zealand people
19th-century New Zealand farmers
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1884 New Zealand general election
19th-century New Zealand politicians
Scottish emigrants to New Zealand