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{{Short description|British politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
[[Image:Charles Grant.jpg|right|thumb|Charles Grant]]'''Charles Grant''' (''Teàrlach Grannd'' in [[Scottish Gaelic]]; 16 April<ref>[[Old Style and New Style dates|Gregorian Calendar]] 4 April</ref> 1746 – 31 October 1823) was a British politician influential in Indian and domestic affairs who, motivated by his [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] Christianity, championed the causes of "social reform" and [[mission (Christian)|Christian mission]], particularly in India. He served as Chairman of the [[British East India Company]], and as a member of parliament (MP), and was an energetic member of the [[Clapham Sect]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Grant, Charles (1746-1823)}}</ref> The "Clapham Sect" were a group of social activists who spoke out about the moral imperative to end slavery.<ref>Tomkins, Stephen, ''The Clapham Sect: How Wilberforce’s circle changed Britain'' (Oxford: Lion, 2010)</ref>

[[Henry Thornton (reformer)|Henry Thornton]], the founder of the Clapham sect, regarded Grant as his closest friend, after Wilberforce, and Grant planned and paid for a house called 'Glenelg' on Henry's estate in [[Battersea]]. It was a twin to, and lay near to the house built on the same estate for Wilberforce after his marriage, the location of which is marked by a plaque at No.111 Broomwood Road,<ref>Blue Plaques Guide - [http://blueplaquesguy.byethost24.com/content/Wilberforce_William_SW11.html?i=1 111 Broomwood Road]</ref><ref>Wikimedia Commons: William Wilberforce - [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WILLIAM_WILBERFORCE_-_111_Broomwood_Road_Battersea_London_SW11_6JT.jpg 111 Broomwood Road Battersea] London SW11 6JT</ref> west of that section of Battersea Rise now called Clapham Common West Side. Grant later moved to live in Russell Square.<ref name="DNB"/><ref>Survey of London: Battersea (Volumes 50 - chapter 17: 'Between the Commons 1'). Editor: Andrew Saint. Historian: Colin Thom. Published by Yale University Press for English Heritage (2013).</ref><ref>Roger Logan, 'Between the Commons: South Battersea’s Formative Years'. Wandsworth Historical Society, Wandsworth Paper 15, 2007</ref>

==Life==
Grant was born at the farmhouse of [[Aldourie]], Inverness-shire, [[Scotland]] in March 1746, when his father, Alexander Grant, known as 'Alister-an-claigh' ('Alexander the Sword(sman)')– a reflection of his martial talents, was fighting for the [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]], against the British Crown, and the following month fought at the [[Battle of Culloden]]. His father was severely wounded but survived, joined a Highland regiment which the government raised for service in America and died at Havana in 1762, of fever he contracted during the [[siege of Havana]]. Charles Grant's mother was Margaret MacBean, daughter of Donald Macbean Esq., Tacksman (tenant) of Aldourie in the parish of Dores, descended from the [[Clan MacBean|Macbeans]] of Kinchyle.<ref>The Life of Charles Grant, Sometime Member of Parliament for Inverness-shire and Director of the East India Company. By Henry Morris, Madras Civil Service (retired). London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, W. 1904. ([https://archive.org/details/lifeofcharlesgra00morruoft/page/n7/mode/2up pages 1-3])</ref><ref>Francis James Grant: 'The Grants of Corrimony', 1895</ref><ref>'A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire' by John Burke and J. Bernard Burke. 10th Edition (1848) [https://books.google.com/books?id=99lDAQAAMAAJ&dq=charles+grant+glenelg+burke+peerage&pg=PA432 Page 432 'Glenelg']</ref> However, Charles Grant himself was one of the growing number of Scots who prospered in the service of the [[British Empire]]. In 1767, Grant travelled to India to take up a military position. Over subsequent years, he rose in the ranks of the British [[East India Company]]. Initially, he became superintendent over its trade in [[Bengal]]. Then, in 1787, having first acquired a personal fortune through silk manufacturing in [[English Bazar|Malda]], [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] the Governor-General appointed Grant as a member of the East India Company's board of trade. Grant lived a profligate lifestyle as he climbed through the ranks, but after losing two children to [[smallpox]] he underwent a [[religious conversion]]. Viewing his life, including his efforts in India, from his new evangelical Christian perspective, moulded his career for the rest of his life.<ref>Hindmarsh, Bruce ''A Long Reach: The Clapham Sect's impact in India—and the world.'' in '[[Christianity Today]]' Issue 53 1997 [http://ctlibrary.com/4195] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729002109/http://www.ctlibrary.com/4195|date=29 July 2012}}</ref>

Grant returned to Britain in 1790 and was elected to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in 1802 for [[Inverness-shire (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness-shire]]. He served as an MP until failing health forced him to retire in 1818. However, his relationship with the East India Company did not end. In 1804, he joined the company's Court of Directors, and in 1805, he became its chairman. He died on 31 October 1823, at his home, No.40 [[Russell Square]], London, at the age of 77.<ref>'The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986</ref><ref>'The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Year 1825, Volume IX' (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, rees, Orme, Brown and Green, Paternoster Row, 1825). [https://books.google.com/books?id=30dOAAAAcAAJ&dq=charles+grant+russell+square+died+october+1823&pg=PA25 Page 25].</ref>

His eldest son, [[Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg|Charles]], was born in India and later followed his father into politics, eventually becoming a [[peerage|British peer]] as Baron [[Glenelg, Highland|Glenelg]]. His other son, [[Robert Grant (MP)|Robert]], followed his father into the Indian service and became [[Governor of Bombay]], as well as being a Christian [[hymn]] writer.

==Indian affairs==

Grant turned to [[evangelicalism]] around 1776, eight years after first visiting India. As the Commercial Resident at [[Malda, West Bengal|Malda]], he came into contact with local people who were suffered from [[Great Bengal famine of 1770|famine]] and flood, and showed compassion to them. However, he believed that the locals lacked "integrity, truth, and faithfulness", and that converting them to Christianity would solve this problem.<ref name="DOC_2012">{{cite book |author=Daniel O'Connor|title=The Chaplains of the East India Company, 1601-1858 |year=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781441175342 |pages=109–110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZXBeF0wpV8C }}</ref>

In 1786, he and Calcutta's new chaplain [[David Brown (East India Company chaplain)|David Brown]] wrote the ''Proposal for Establishing a Protestant Mission in Bengal''. The Company administration did not take the proposal seriously, but with Brown's encouragement, Grant sent a copy to the Cambridge cleric [[Charles Simeon]], who recruited Evangelical chaplains for India. British politician [[William Wilberforce]] also supported the proposal.<ref name="DOC_2012"/>

In preparation for the renewal of the company's charter in 1793, Grant wrote a larger and a much more controversial paper titled ''Observations on the State of Society among the Asiatic Subjects of Great Britain particular with respect to Morals; and on the means of improving it'' (1792). In this paper, he contended that India could be advanced socially and morally by compelling the company to permit Christian missionaries into India, a view diametrically opposed to the long-held position of the East India Company that Christian missionary work in India conflicted with its commercial interests and should be prohibited. He presented the [[Indian caste system]] as a form of systemic [[despotism]], and stated that the Indian people were "universally and wholly corrupt", "exceedingly depraved", and "lamentably degenerate". He argued that the company needed to support the Christian missionaries in improving this situation. The paper also proposed other methods for the welfare of Indians, including the introduction of the English language for communication of knowledge, and application of machinery to agriculture and other fields.<ref name="DOC_2012"/><ref>Extracts may be found on the [http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/grant/grant.htm William Carey University Feb Website] (accessed 18 February 2007)</ref>

Grant and Wilberforce pressed for the inclusion of a "Pious Clause" in the 1793 charter of the company: this would empower the company's Court of Directors to appoint schoolmasters, missionaries, and other people to propagate Christian teachings among Indians.<ref name="DOC_2012"/> In 1797, Grant presented his essay to the company's directors. The directors opposed the proposal, describing the idea of sending missionaries to India as "the wildest, maddest, most expensive, and most unwarranted plan that was ever proposed by a lunatic enthusiast", in an 1801 memorandum to the British Parliament. However, Wilberforce and his allies successfully lobbied for their ideas to be included at the next renewal of the charter in 1813. The "Pious Clause" included in the 1813 charter did not specifically mention the missionaries, but the company committed to supporting the [[Diocese of Calcutta (Church of North India)|Anglican Bishop of Calcutta]] and three [[archdeacon]]ries.<ref>{{cite book |author=John Pritchard |title=Methodists and Their Missionary Societies 1760-1900 |year=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317097068 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m80FDAAAQBAJ |page=24 }}</ref>

As chairman of the company, Grant used his position to sponsor many chaplains to India, among them [[Claudius Buchanan]] and [[Henry Martyn]].

Grant was largely responsible for the foundation of [[East India Company College]] (1806-1858), which was later erected at [[Haileybury and Imperial Service College|Haileybury]].

==Christian humanitarianism==
Grant was part of an evangelical [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] movement of close friends whose notable members included the abolitionist Wilberforce, [[Zachary Macaulay]], [[John Venn]], [[Henry Thornton (reformer)|Henry Thornton]], and [[John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth|John Shore]], who lived in close proximity around Clapham Common southwest of London. For some years from 1796, Grant himself lived in a large villa called Glenelg in proximity to Wilberforce and Thornton. This 'Clapham sect' welded evangelical theology with the cause of social reform. Both in India and in Britain's Parliament, Grant campaigned for the furtherance of causes of education, social reform, and Christian mission. In 1791, he helped establishing the [[Sierra Leone Company]], which gave refuge to freed slaves. Also in 1791, as an influential supporter of the abolition of slavery in all its forms, he was elected to the London Abolition Committee.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jennings|first=Judi|title=The Business of Abolishing the British Slave Trade, 1783–1807|year=1997|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0714646970|pages=67, 82}}</ref> He served as a vice-president of the [[British and Foreign Bible Society]] from its establishment in 1804, and also supported the [[Church Missionary Society]] and the [[Society for the Propagation of the Gospel]].

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/grant/grant.htm |title=Charles Grant Biography |publisher=William Carey University website |accessdate=16 February 2007}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Grant, Charles |volume=12 |page=353}}
*{{cite book|first=Ainslie |last=Embree | authorlink=Ainslie Embree |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |year=1962 |title=Charles Grant and British Rule in India|url=https://archive.org/details/charlesgrantbrit0000embr |url-access=registration }}
*{{cite book|first=Henry |last= Morris|title=The Life of Charles Grant|publisher=John Murray, London|year=1904}}

==See also==
*{{ship||Charles Grant|1810 EIC ship|2}}– A ship that sailed for the East India Company between 1810 and 1833.

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-charles-grant-1 | Charles Grant }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = [[John Simon Frederick Fraser]] }}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Inverness-shire (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness-shire]]
| years = [[1802 United Kingdom general election|1802]] – [[1818 United Kingdom general election|1818]]
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg|Charles Grant]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Charles}}
[[Category:1746 births]]
[[Category:1823 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Anglicans]]
[[Category:18th-century evangelicals]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglicans]]
[[Category:19th-century evangelicals]]
[[Category:Clapham Sect]]
[[Category:Directors of the British East India Company]]
[[Category:Scottish abolitionists]]
[[Category:Scottish Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Scottish evangelicals]]
[[Category:Evangelical Anglicans]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:People from Highland (council area)]]
[[Category:Scottish colonial officials]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1802–1806]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1806–1807]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1807–1812]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1812–1818]]

Charles Grant (British East India Company) - Revision history

Riya parik at 10:00, 28 September 2025