Sir Archibald Grant, 2nd Baronet
Sir Archibald Grant, 2nd Baronet (25 September 1696 – 17 September 1778), of Monymusk, Aberdeen, was a company speculator and politician who sat in the
Background
Grant was the eldest son of
Political career
At the
Charitable Corporation
In London, Archibald Grant became involved in share speculation, possibly from the collapse of the
Mines
From his second marriage in 1727, Grant was also concerned in mines at Eyam Edge, Derbyshire and Oden in Castleton, Derbyshire, in which his father in law Charles Potts had earlier been concerned. These mines were evidently profitable in the earlier years. Later, there were disputes with managers. In 1747, Grant was trying to sell the mines and the Partington estate (of his wife). The mines were apparently not sold, but operation was clearly hindered by Grant's lack of money.[8]
Grant also bought the mines at Strontian in Scotland for a modest sum and sent Derbyshire miners there to develop them in 1729, also a relative of his wife, to manage them.[8]
His Charitable Corporation partners were told of some mines in Scotland in which he and Sir Robert Sutton another director was concerned, and proposed that the York Buildings Company should lease them, hoping the enhance the value of its stock. They then bought York Buildings shares, which rose in value. While Grant was in Scotland the other four partners made further share purchases.[6] All this was financed by borrowing money from the Charitable Corporation on false pledges. Ultimately the speculation failed. Unable to pay their debts, Robinson and Thomson absconded. The whole affair was then subject to an investigation by a committee of the House of Commons.[9] Grant was expelled from the House.
Other activities
In 1728, he and his brother-in-law Alexander Garden of Troup leased from the York Buildings Company the Southesk, Marschal, Pitcairn, and most of the Panmure estates for 29 years at £4000 per year.[10]
Later life
After Grant's expulsion from the Commons, he returned to Scotland and devoted his time to improving his
Grant stood for Aberdeenshire at the 1747 British general election but gave up when he learnt that the Duke of Argyll was supporting a Pelham candidate. When Argyll heard that Newcastle was proposing to make Grant sheriff of Aberdeenshire as a consolation for not being returned for the county, he wrote: ‘This requires great consideration, for the blot in his reputation takes place here as well as in England’. He was not appointed sheriff, but in 1749 he obtained a sinecure post as Keeper of register of Hornings.[3]
Grant published two pamphlets on agriculture: The Farmer's New-Year's Gift (Aberdeen, 1757) and The Practical Farmer's Pocket Companion (Aberdeen, 1766). According to David Hume, planting trees was ‘the only laudable thing he has ever done’.[1]
Family
Grant married four times. By his first wife, Anne, daughter of James Hamilton of Pencaitland, he had three daughters.[11] His second wife, Anne (died before 1744), daughter of Charles Potts of Castleton in Derbyshire, was the mother of his heir Sir Archibald Grant, 3rd Baronet. The third was Elizabeth (died 1759), widow of James Callander of Jamaica. Finally, he married Jane (1707–1788), widow of Andrew Millar, the London bookseller.[1]
References
- ^ a b c R. H. Campbell, ‘Grant, Sir Archibald, of Monymusk, second baronet (1696–1778)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [1], accessed 30 Oct 2009.
- ^ Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1904), Complete Baronetage volume 4 (1665-1707), vol. 4, Exeter: William Pollard and Co, p. 451, retrieved 6 May 2019
- ^ a b c "GRANT, Archibald (1696-1778), of Monymusk, Aberdeen". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ Ginger, John (ed.) and Grano, John Baptist (1998). Handel's Trumpeter: The Diary of John Grano, p. 218. This was written in 1728-1729, obtained by the Bodleian library in Oxford in 1756, and first published by Pendragon Press in 1998, with commentary by John Ginger.
- ^ a b Reports of Committees of the House of Commons 1, 1716-1733 (1776), 438.
- ^ a b Report of Committees of the House of Commons on Charitable Corporation (1733), 22.
- ^ Report of Committees of the House of Commons on Charitable Corporation (1733), 8 13.
- ^ a b L. Willies, 'Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk Bart.: a "Carping Maintainer" and his Derbyshire Agents', Bulletin of the Peak District Mining History Society 12(4) (1994), 23-27.
- ^ Reports of Committees of the House of Commons 1, 1716-1733 (1776).
- ^ D. Murray, York Building Company: a chapter in Scotch history (1883, repr. Kessinger Publishing, US), 47.
- ^ Scotlands People url=https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ access-date=7 September 2023 |ref=Births, Edinburgh Parish 1717-1720 Father Archibald Baronet/Grant