Ian Charles Ogilvy-Grant, 8th Earl of Seafield

Ian Charles Ogilvy-Grant, 8th Earl of Seafield (7 October 1851 – 31 March 1884) was a Scottish nobleman. He is numbered as the 27th Chief of Clan Grant.

Seafield was the only child of John Charles Ogilvy-Grant, 7th Earl of Seafield and his wife the Hon. Caroline Stuart. During his minority he was entitled Viscount Reidhaven and Master of Grant. He succeeded his father as Earl of Seafield and Chief of Grant in 1881.

The main residence for Ian Charles, as for his father and mother, was Cullen House in Cullen; Castle Grant, the traditional seat of the Clan Grant, was also occupied when his Strathspey estates were visited.

As he was unmarried and had no children, by a will made in 1882 Ian Charles left his mother as the heir to his estates: Lady Caroline, the Countess Dowager, therefore was proprietor of the Seafield and Grant Estates until her death in 1911. Meanwhile the 8th Earl's titles of honour were inherited by his uncle, James Ogilvy-Grant, 9th Earl of Seafield who was otherwise the nearest male heir. The Seafield title was thus for some generations separated from the lands and properties that had maintained it. This situation had been made possible because the 7th Earl, John Charles, had completed the legal procedure of disentailing the estate.

After education at Eton, Ian Charles received a commission as cornet and sub-lieutenant in the First Regiment of Life Guards on 8 December 1869; he was promoted lieutenant in October 1871 and retired from the army in 1877.

On succeeding to his father's seat in the House of Lords, Lord Seafield adhered to the Conservative Party. In the pamphlet published 'In Memoriam' on his death, the editors wrote:

Though a constitutionalist, he was by no means a Tory of the old school. From his earliest years he took a most active part, in every political movement. He knew we live in a progressive age, and that as the nation advances in intelligence, by means of education, certain reforms become necessary, and when the proper time arrives, ought to be carried out. What he did most strenuously object to was hasty legislation, and especially legislation which might lead to the disintegration of the Empire, and to lowering of the National prestige abroad. The attempt to admit an avowed Atheist to the House of Commons was utterly repugnant to his whole nature, and no one rejoiced more than he did at the exclusion of that Atheist. ( Charles Bradlaugh )

...
Wikipedia