Sir James Augustus Grant, 1st Baronet (3 March 1867 – 29 July 1932) was a British

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politician.

Early life

Born in Jalandhar, India, he was the son of the Scottish explorer

James Augustus Grant Lieutenant-Colonel James Augustus Grant (11 April 1827 – 11 February 1892) was a Scottish explorer of eastern equatorial Africa. He made contributions to the journals of various learned societies, the most notable being the "Botany of the Sp ...

and his wife Margaret Laurie. He matriculated at

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in 1886. After university, Grant worked in South Africa on the Kimberley– Bechuanaland railway. He accompanied

Joseph Thomson Joseph or Joe Thomson is the name of: *J. J. Thomson (1856–1940), physicist * Joseph Thomson (cricketer) (1877-1953), Australian cricketer *Joseph Thomson (explorer) Joseph Thomson (14 February 1858 – 2 August 1895) was a British geologist ...

on his final expedition of 1890. At this point he was working for the British South Africa Company and Cecil Rhodes, a contact of his father. With Frank Elliott Lochner of the Bechuanaland Police and

Alfred Sharpe Sir Alfred Sharpe (19 May 1853 – 10 December 1935) was Commissioner and Consul-General for the British Central Africa Protectorate and first Governor of Nyasaland. He trained as a solicitor but was in turn a planter and a professional hun ...

, Thomson and Grant went to visit Msiri of Garenganze, seeking mineral rights.

Politician

Grant was

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(MP) for Egremont from January 1910 until the constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election. He was then elected as MP for

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, but lost that seat at the 1922 general election to Labour Party candidate Thomas Gavan Duffy. Grant was strongly opposed to extending the franchise to women. During a parliamentary debate on the bill which became the Representation of the People Act 1918 he said: "We are controlled and worried enough by women, and I have heard no reason why we should alter the present state of affairs." Grant did not contest the 1923 general election, but returned to the

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at the 1924 general election as MP for

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. He retired from

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at the 1929 election, having been made a

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, in July 1926, of Househill, Nairn. The baronetcy became extinct on Grant's death in

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in 1932, aged 65.

Family

Grant married in 1896 Nina Frances Kennard, daughter of Arthur Challis Kennard and his wife the novelist Nina H. Kennard (1844–1926). Their daughter Nina Margaret Sophie in 1924 married Sir Anselm Guise, 6th Baronet, of

Elmore Court Elmore Court is a grade II* listed mansion, located at Elmore in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. The original building dates from between 1564 and 1588. History The house has been the family seat of the Guise Baronets for n ...

, Gloucestershire, and they had two sons and a daughter, including Sir John Grant Guise, 7th Baronet (1927–2007). A younger daughter Hester, born 1899, married in 1923 Arthur Darley Bridge of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

References

Sources

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External links

* 1867 births 1932 deaths People from Poplar, London Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1924–1929 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1860s-stub