Sir Alexander Cray Grant, 8th Baronet (13 November 1782 – 29 November 1854) was a British politician and

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

owner 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 ...

Life

He was born in 1782 in

West Alvington West Alvington is a small village, located on the outskirts of Kingsbridge in South Devon on the A381 road. The appropriate electoral ward is called Westville and Alvington. Its population at the 2011 census was 2,042. It has a primary school an ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, the eldest son of Sir Alexander Grant, 7th Baronet and Sarah Cray. He graduated from St John's College, Cambridge in 1806 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA). He entered politics in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, where he owned two

s, as a member of the Jamaican colonial assembly from 1810 to 1811. In 1812, he returned to England, where he successfully stood as a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Tregony Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office (now ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. In 1818, he was elected as MP for

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increas ...

, and was re-elected there in June 1826, although he was also elected to Aldborough which he chose to represent instead. From 1826 to 1831, Grant was the

Chairman of Ways and Means In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies. The incumbent is Dame Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest, who was first elected to the office on ...

in the House of Commons. He was unsuccessful in elections for

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

in 1835, and

Honiton Honiton ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 11,822 (based on mid-year estimates for the two Honiton Ward ...

, but re-entered the House representing

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1840, until 1843. In 1843 he was appointed a Commissioner of Audit, remaining in that office until the end of his life. Grant succeeded his father as

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Dalvey upon the latter's death in 1825. Grant himself died in London on 29 November 1854 aged 72, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his brother, Robert Innes Grant. Grant received over £12,000 in compensation for the emancipation of his slaves from estates in Jamaica in 1838. He was uncle to Sir Alexander Grant

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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

10th baronet of Dalvey.

References

External links

* 1782 births 1854 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Tory MPs (pre-1834) Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall Planters of Jamaica {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1780s-stub