General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Lewis Grant, KCH ( Ludovick Grant; 26 March 1776 – 26 January 1852) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and colonial administrator in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Grant was born as Ludovick Grant in

Forres, Moray Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There ...

, one of eight sons born to Duncan Grant, of Mulochaird in

Strathspey, Scotland Strathspey ( gd, Srath Spè, ) is the region around the strath of the River Spey, Scotland, split between the Moray council area and the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area of Highland. The term Strathspey usually refers to the upper part o ...

, and Jean Grant, daughter of Robert Grant of Keithmore, Banff, by Elizabeth Gordon. He was a younger brother of the physician Sir James Robert Grant, chief medical officer at

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

. Grant entered the army in 1794 as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in the 95th Regiment, from which he was promoted to lieutenant in the 97th Regiment. In 1795, Grant was aboard HMS ''Orion'' under

James Saumarez Admiral of the Red James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez (or Sausmarez), GCB (11 March 1757 – 9 October 1836) was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, known for his victory at the Second Battle of Algeciras. Early life Saumarez was born ...

at the

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix was a large naval engagement which took place near the island of Groix off the Biscay coast of Brittany on 23 June 1795 ( 5 messidor an III) during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought between elements of the ...

. He was promoted to captain in 1796 and subsequently fought under

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ire ...

in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. In June 1801, Grant was appointed Assistant Quarter and Barrack Master General in

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

and held the same position in

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

in 1802. Promoted to major in 1802, he transferred to the 3rd West Indian Regiment and returned to England in 1803. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 70th Regiment in 1804, he returned to the West Indies that year. Further promoted to colonel in 1813 and major-general in 1819, Grant was then appointed

Governor of the Bahamas This is a list of governors of the Bahamas. The first English settlement in the Bahamas was on Eleuthera. In 1670, the king granted the Bahamas to the lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina, but the islands were left to themselves. The loc ...

in 1820, then Governor of Trinidad in 1829. Serving in the latter post until 1833, Lionel Mordaunt Fraser's ''History of Trinidad'' (1971) states on the day after his departure on 22 June, the ''

Port of Spain Gazette The ''Port of Spain Gazette'' was a newspaper based in Port of Spain, Trinidad (and later, Trinidad and Tobago) between 1825 and 1959. The paper took a proslavery position in the 1830s, and later supported the rights of local elites against the ...

'' reported he was "hated by the negroes and detested by every independent member of the community". On 13 September 1831, Grant was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

and

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, appointed colonel of the 96th Regiment of Foot on 9 April 1839 and awarded an honorary MA from

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

in 1847. On 11 November 1851, he was promoted to general and died suddenly from heart disease a few months later on 26 January 1852, aboard an

omnibus Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film) * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (UK TV series), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibus'' (U.S. TV series), an educational progr ...

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...

, London, while he was travelling to his home on

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...

. He was buried at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

. He had married, on 21 July 1832, to Isabella Elizabeth Grant, daughter of Alexander and Margaret Grant of Tullochgriban. They had one daughter, Isabella Jean Margaret Grant (1842–1913), who married Lt Clinton Fraser Henshaw of the Rifle Brigade om 18 October 1859 at St James, Westminster, and had issue.

References

*Obituary, ''The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review'', Volume 191, p. 406 , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Lewis 1777 births 1852 deaths British Army generals British governors of the Bahamas Governors of British Trinidad Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Knights Bachelor