GRANT, Alexander (c.1674-1719), of Grant, Elgin.

Grant was the head of the leading family of Elginshire, for which he sat as a Whig from 1710 till his death. During the Fifteen rebellion he was active in raising his clan in support of the Government, promising them ample compensation for any losses, which in fact was not forthcoming.Sir W. Fraser, Chiefs of Grant, i. 358-9; I. F. Grant, The Grant Clan, 20-21; More Culloden Pprs. ii. 167. Politically he followed the Duke of Argyll, promoting their joint electoral influence by marrying his sister to Lord Lovat in 1716, an alliance described by Argyll’s brother, Lord Ilay, as ‘a measure settled for the better uniting our interest in the north’. He voted with the Government on the septennial bill but against them on the motion censuring Argyll’s rival, Cadogan, on 4 June 1717, for which he was dismissed from his military governorship, his regiment also being disbanded.Chiefs of Grant, i. 352; ii. 34; Sunderland (Blenheim) mss D. II, 16. Later that year he was reported as being ‘under the care of the physician of Bedlam and in iron cuffs’, railing against Cadogan.HMC Portland, v. 538. He died 19 Aug. 1719.