James Augustus Grant
| James Augustus Grant | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
11 April 1827 Nairn, Scotland |
| Died |
11 February 1892 (aged 64) Nairn, Scotland |
| Occupation | Explorer, author, armed forces officer |
| Awards | CB, CSI, FRS, FRGS |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 British Empire
|
| Service/branch | Bengal Army |
| Years of service | 1848–1868 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Battles/wars |
Sikh War Indian Mutiny 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia |
Lieutenant Colonel James Augustus Grant CB CSI FRS FRGS (11 April 1827 – 11 February 1892) was a Scottish explorer of eastern equatorial Africa. He made contributions to the journals of various learned societies, the most notable being the "Botany of the Speke and Grant Expedition" in vol. xxix of the Transactions of the Linnaean Society. He married in 1865 and settled down at Nairn, where he died in 1892. He was buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral.Grant's gazelle, one of the largest and handsomest of that family in Africa, was named in his honor.
Grant was born at Nairn in the Scottish Highlands, where his father was the parish minister, and educated at Nairn Academy, Aberdeen Grammar School and Marischal College, Aberdeen. In 1846 he joined the Indian army. He saw active service in the Sikh War (1848–49), served throughout the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and was wounded in the operations for the relief of Lucknow.
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.
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