GRANT, JAMES GORDON STUART (1838-1902) was born at Granton, Elginshire, and educated at the parish school and later at Aberdeen Grammar School and at King's College and Marischal College in Aberdeen. He took the arts course of Edinburgh University at New College, and finished his education at St Andrew's University, where he studied the first principles of moral philosophy and political economy.

In 1855 Grant went to Melbourne and from there, at the invitation of W. H. Reynolds, he came to Otago (1855), believing that he would receive a post in the Otago High School. Instead he opened the Dunedin academy, had a school in Wellington for a short time and then engaged in lecturing and preaching. He established the Saturday Review (which ran 1864-68), and later the Delphic Oracle. In both journals he showed marked literary ability, but he was repeatedly at loggerheads with public men in the province. In 1864 he led a deputation of working men to the Provincial Council, and was arrested by order of the speaker and had to apologise; but a few months later, supported by the Foresters, he was elected to the Provincial Council for City of Dunedin at the top of the poll. In the Council (1865-67) Grant tried to have the Scottish thistle, as the national emblem, deleted from the thistle ordinance of the council. In 1867 he contested the superintendency against Macandrew, and in 1868 stood for the mayoralty of Dunedin against Birch. He contested the parliamentary seat in 1874, 1875, 1879 and 1884 and then retired. He died on 27 Feb 1902.

Otago P.C. Proc.; MacMorran; Hocken, Otago; Hocken, Bibliog.; McIndoe; Saturday Advertiser, Mar 1881; Otago Daily Times, 28 Feb 1902; Evening Star, 27 Feb 1902.

Reference: Volume 1, page 175

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