James William Grant (astronomer)


James William Grant FRSE FRAS, 3rd Laird of Wester Elchies was a Scottish astronomer and landowner. On 23 July 1844 he was the first person to observe and record the existence of the star Antares B.

Life

He was born on 12/13 August 1788 at the family home of Wester Elchies and was baptised on 28 August 1788 at Knockando church. He was the son of Robert Grant, Laird of Elchies, Knockando and Ballintomb, and his wife Isobel Campbell. His father had made a fortune as a fur trader in Canada, purchasing the estate of Wester Elchies in 1783.
From 1805 until 1849 he worked for the East India Company, beginning in the role of Writer and rising to be its official Astronomer, based in Bengal. In 1828 he inherited the estate of Wester Elchies from his elder brother. In 1849 he returned to Scotland and built a fine private observatory from granite at Wester Elchies, flanked by a pair of sphinx. In 1851 he purchased the Trophy Telescope which had been a centrepiece of the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace in London. It was set up specifically to search for double stars. It was used by Prof Piazzi Smyth in 1862. It was sold in 1864 to a Mr Aytoun of Glenfarg. The telescope was the largest in Scotland at that time with an 11-inch aperture, 16 feet focal length lens.
In 1852 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being Robert Morrison. He resigned in 1854.
He died on 17 December 1865 at Wester Elchies. He is buried in the family vault at Knockando churchyard.

Family

On 22 November 1807 he married Margaret Wilson at Knockando. She was the daughter of Rev Thomas Wilson of Gamrie in Banffshire. Margaret died in London and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. Children:
His grandson James W H Grant was son-in-law to Sir Archibald Levin Smith who is also buried at Knockando.

Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1852 to 1854
Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1854