He was one of the chief conspirators of the plot to blow up Parliment
when the House of Lords and the King would be in attendance. John
Grant's part was to carry out a kidnapping in his part of the conspiracy.
When the plot began to unravel, he made his escape with a couple
of his co-consiprators, and he returned to his manor home where
he was blinded when wet gunpowder that he and his fellows were drying
near the fire, exploded. He was convicted, and executed on January
30, 1606 in London.
From the web site http://www.gunpowder-plot.org: Behind the air of melancholy and "scholarly withdrawal" seems
to have hidden a man who could show plenty of spirit when required.
John Gerard describes him as being "... as fierce as a lion, of
a very undaunted courage as could be found in a country". Norbrook
became a noted refuge for priests, and as a result it was often
visited by the pursuivants, the government agents whose job it was
to search for possible hidden priests. Grant was particularly active
in resisting the pursuivants when they visited Norbrook, and the
firmness and force of his resistance even started to discourage
the pursuivants from searching Norbrook altogether. Gerard says
that Grant was fond of "... paying pursuivants so well for their
labour, not with crowns of gold, but with cracked crowns sometimes,
and with dry bones instead of drink and other good cheer, that they
durst not visit him any more unless they brought store of help with
them."
Ulysses
S. Grant (1822 - 1885) American President and hero of the
American Civil War. Click on the link for a detailed account of the
most famous Grant in American history.
Hugh Grant. (1960
- )
Actor in films such as "About A Boy", "Four Weddings and a Funeral"
and "Notting Hill". Hugh's father was in the Seaforth Highlanders,
and Hugh's family descends from the Grants of Rothiemurchus.
Amy Grant. (1960
- )
Singer and Musician. Amy Grant was born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1960,
later moving with her family to Nashville, Tennessee. Amy started
her career as a gospel singer and was popular in the world of Christian
music before branching out to become a major singing star on both
the pop and country charts. You can visit Amy's web site here at http://www.amygrant.com
Cary Grant. (1904
- 1986)
Actor. Cary Grant was born in Bristol, England, the son of impoverished
parents. However, Grant was his stage name. He was born Archibald
Leach (incidentally, John Cleese of Monty Python fame used this as
his character's name in "A Fish Called Wanda", as an inside joke)
in 1904. He started with an English theater company and arrived in
the United States in the 1920's. In Hollywood he was told his name
would not do, on a marquee, so the studio gave him a suggested list
of stage names to choose from. He chose "Grant" as his last name because
he liked it. Recognized for his suave and debonair persona both on-screen
and off, while not a "true" Grant by birth, his name became legendary
around the world, and today is almost synonymous for sophistication
and "style" - we'll take him.
Duncan Grant.
(1885 - 1978)
Painter and Artist. Duncan Grant was descended from the Grants of
Rothiemurchs, his grandfather was Sir John Peter Grant of Rothiemurchus.
Sir Francis Grant.
(1803 - 1878)
Painter. Born at Kilgraston, SW of Bridge of Earn (Perth and Kinross),
the brother of soldier General Sir James Hope Grant (1808-75). He
was best known for his hunting scenes and as a fashionable portraitist.
Self-taught, his first work to be exhibited at the Royal Academy was
the sporting picture Merton Breakfast (1834). Other works include
The Melton Hunt and The Cottesmore Hunt. Grant was elected President
of the Academy in 1866 and served in this role until his death.
John Grant. (b.
Unknown - Jan. 30, 1606)
A very infamous Grant, John Grant was one of the conspirators
of the Gunpowder Plot. From Brittania.com:
"John Grant was the son of Thomas Grant of Norbrook and Alice Ruding.
The Grants and Rudinges were old, established families in the county.
The main seat of the Grant family had been at Snitterfield, but in
1545 they came into possession of the nearby estate of Norbrook. John
had married Dorothy Wintour, a sister (or more probably, a half-sister)
of Robert and Thomas Wintour of Huddington Court".
"Commentators on the history of the Gunpowder Plot seem to have
varying opinions on Grant's personality. He is described by Parkinson
as "melancholy" and "taciturn", and possibly even "stupid". However,
Fraser explicitly calls Grant an "intellectual", and says that he
"... studied Latin and other foreign languages for pleasure". Although
Edwards claims that Grant was originally a Protestant, others assert
that he was a devout Roman Catholic, and that his sympathies fell
squarely with the Catholic cause (The Union of the Crowns was in
1603. This is relevant because King James VI & I was a protestant).
Grant was one of the participants in the Essex Rebellion, along
with other Gunpowder Plotters such as Robert Catesby, Francis Tresham
and John Wright.
James Augustus
Grant. (1827 - 1892)
Explorer and soldier. Grant was born in Nairn (Highland) and educated
at Marischal College, Aberdeen. He joined the British army, serving
in India during the Sikh Wars (1849) and the Indian Mutiny (1857-8).
He searched for the source of the Nile with John Hanning Speke (1860-3)
and together they traced the river to Lake Victoria (in modern-day
Uganda). He kept a record of his journey and published these as A
Walk Across Africa (1864).
William Thomas
Grant. (1876 - 1972)
Founder of W. T. Grant Department Stores. At it's peak there were
over 1,200 stores. William Grant founded the William T. Grant Foundation
and dedicated much of his life, and fortune, to philanthropical efforts,
though after his death his department stores folded in the biggest
retail bankruptcy in history. The William T. Grant Foundation, due
to diversification, survived, and continues his philanthropy. The
W.T. Grant foundation's web site can be found here.
John Graunt. (April
24, 1620 - April 18, 1674)
Born in London, John Graunt was an English statistician, generally
considered to be the founder of the science of demography , the statistical
study of human populations. His analysis of the vital statistics of
the London populace greatly influenced the demographic work of his
friend, demographer Sir William Petty and that of the astronomer Edmond
Halley. .
Richard Le Grant
- Archbishop of Canterbury (also called Richard Grant, Richard Le
Grand, Richard of Wethershed).
Died Aug. 3, 1231 , San Gemini, Duchy of Spoleto in Italy. 45th archbishop
of Canterbury (1229–31). He asserted the independence of the clergy
and of his see from royal control. Richard was the chancellor of Lincoln
Cathedral (1221–29), Lincolnshire. He was then appointed Archbishop
by Pope Gregory IX at the request of King Henry III (King Henry being
the one who named William le Graunt as having recently set out for
Scotland with King Alexander III, this seems to be no coincidence).
Tradition within the Clan has long claimed Richard as one of our own
and the circumstantial evidence seems to back this up. Sometimes referred
to as "Richard Magnus" it is clear that the Norman scribes must have
considered "Magnus" interchangeable with "Grand"/"Grant". One account
within the Clan claims Richard was a younger son of one of the earliest
Grant chiefs and migrated to Lincolnshire (very near the other holdings
of the Grants in England in the 13th century) from whence he was appointed
Archbishop of Canterbury.
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