Grant was born in Invernesshire. He travelled as a young teenager to Nova Scotia, and then on to Jamaica. His manuscript records of legal decisions form the earliest set of Caribbean case reports.

Grant was one of the famous Grants of Kilgraston. Richard Blake’s recently published book, Sugar, Slaves and High Society (“such a well-researched and impressively written book” (Scottish Local History)) tells the story of the Grants, originally from Strathspey, who benefitted from significant wealth repatriated from Jamaica to Scotland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Grants were a fascinating family, who included a President of the Royal Academy of Arts, one of the earliest professional sculptresses, and “the best fighting man in the world” (George MacDonald Fraser).

Part of the Grant family’s legacy is to be found in Edinburgh: Sir Francis’s paintings in the National Galleries of Scotland; Mary’s sculptured reredos in St Mary’s Cathedral; and street names in the Grange: Kilgraston Road, Strathearn Road and Hope Terrace.

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