William Grant

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Sir William Grant (October 13, 1752– May 23, 1832) was an British lawyer, Member of Parliament from 1790–1812 and Master of the Rolls from 1801–1817.

He was born at Elchies, Moray, Scotland. Grant studied at King's College, Aberdeen, at the University of Leiden and then studied law at Lincoln's Inn in London. He was called to the bar in 1774. Grant arrived at the town of Quebec in 1775 and took part in its defence against the Americans. In 1776, he was appointed attorney general for the province. However, Lord George Germain, secretary of state for the American colonies, chose James Monk for the post. In the meantime, Grant had issued ordinances establishing civil and criminal courts in Quebec. He returned to England in 1778.

Grant was elected to represent Shaftesbury in the House of Commons in 1790. In 1794, he was elected to represent Windsor. From 1796 to 1812, he represented the county of Banffshire in Scotland.

He was knighted in 1799, and died at Dawlish, Devon, England.

[edit] Reference

• This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 Chambers's Biographical Dictionary.

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online