Lewis Alexander Grant-Ogilvie, 5th Earl of Seafield,

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". ...

(22 March 1767 – 26 October 1840) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

nobleman. He is numbered as the 24th Chief of

Clan Grant Clan Grant is a Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch, Grant of Grant, and several cadet branches, such as Grant of Glenmoriston. History Origins The Chiefs of Clan Grant descended from Normans who arrived in Scotland during the medie ...

. His promising career was cut short by mental instability.

Life

He was born Lewis Alexander Grant at Moy near

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, the son of

Sir James Grant, 8th Baronet Sir James Grant of Grant, 8th Baronet, (19 May 1738, Moray – 18 February 1811, Castle Grant) was a Scottish landowner, politician and Chief of Clan Grant. He was often referred to as the ''Good Sir James''. Life Grant was the son of Sir L ...

and Jean Duff (1746–1805). He was christened at Dyke a few days later. He was educated at

Edinburgh High School The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves around 1,400 pupils drawn from four feeder pr ...

and

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, then studied law at the

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and

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Career

In 1788 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 proposers were

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hutc ...

, James Gregory, and Andrew Dalzell. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

for Elginshire in 1790, a seat he held until 1796. From 1791 his health began to fail and by 1805 he was described as being a "most hopeless case of mental derangement". In 1794 he was diagnosed as incurable but did not surrender his seat as an MP until 1796. In February 1811 he succeeded his father as ninth Baronet of Colquhoun. Eight months later, in October 1811, he became the fifth Earl of Seafield on the death of his second cousin James Ogilvie, 7th Earl of Findlater and 4th Earl of Seafield. Seafield was the grandson of Lady Margaret Ogilvie, daughter of the prominent statesman James Ogilvie, 4th Earl of Findlater and 1st Earl of Seafield. However, he was not in remainder to the earldom of Findlater which title became extinct. He assumed the additional surname of Ogilvie on succeeding in the earldom.

Personal life

Lord Seafield never married. He died at Cullen House in

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

on 26 October 1840, aged 73, and was buried in the Mausoleum in

Duthil Old Parish Church and Churchyard Duthil Old Parish Church and Churchyard is a historic site at the centre of the historical parish of Duthil (), near Carrbridge, Inverness-shire. It is presently maintained as a Clan Grant heritage centre. Old Parish Church The first recorded c ...

. He was succeeded by his younger brother Francis William Ogilvie-Grant who had already taken over all practical duties and curatorship of the estates from the point of Alexander's mental instability. His uncles included

Henry Mackenzie Henry Mackenzie FRSE (August 1745 – 14 January 1831, born and died in Edinburgh) was a Scottish lawyer, novelist and writer sometimes seen as the Addison of the North. While remembered mostly as an author, his main income came from legal ro ...

and Alexander Penrose Cumming-Gordon.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seafield, Lewis Alexander Ogilvy-Grant, 5th Earl of 1767 births 1840 deaths Nobility from Moray People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

5 Grant, Lewis Grant-Ogilvy, 4th Lord Scottish clan chiefs