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Name: GRANT, James Augustus, Sir (Capt.)
Birth Date: 11 Apr 1827 Nairn, Scotland
Death Date: 11 Feb 1892 Nairn, Scotland
First Date: 1862
Profession: Travelled with John Hanning Speke from Zanzibar to Lake Victoria and then worked up the west side of the lake. They crossed the River Kagera on Jan. 10th 1862 and entered Buganda.
Married: 1. relationship in Uganda in 1860s; 2. In Marylebone 25 July 1865 Margaret Thompson Laurie b. 1835 East Lothian, d. 20 June 1918 Nairn
Children: 1. Juliet (1863 Uganda); Dineer (1863 Uganda); Aggrey (1865 Uganda) 2. James Augustus (8 Mar 1867 Jalandhar, India-1932); Mary Augusta (4 Apr 1866 Almorah, India-1907); dau Christian (1870 Marylebone-1951); Margaret Alison (1871 Marylebone-1951); Alister (16 Dec 1871 Scotland-1900)
Book Reference: Gillett, Chandler
War Service: Bengal Army, Sikh War, Indian Mutiny
School: Marischal Coll. Aberdeen
General Information:
CB, CSI, FRS, FRGS, 1st baronet
Wikipedia He returned to England in 1858, and in 1860 joined John Hanning Speke in the memorable expedition which solved the problem of the Nile sources. The expedition left Zanzibar in October 1860 and reached Gondokoro, where the travellers were again in touch with what they regarded as civilization, in February 1863. Speke was the leader, but Grant carried out several investigations independently and made valuable botanical collections. He acted throughout in absolute loyalty to his comrade. In 1864 he published, as supplementary to Speke's account of their journey, A Walk across Africa,in which he dealt particularly with "the ordinary life and pursuits, the habits and feelings of the natives" and the economic value of the countries traversed. In 1864 he was awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and in 1866 given the Companionship of the Bath in recognition of his services in the expedition. Grant served in the intelligence department of the Abyssinian expedition of 1868; for this he was made a Companion of the Order of the Star of India and received the Abyssinian War Medal. At the close of the war he retired from the army with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.