Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2021-09-22T08:52:59Z

robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Walter Colquhoun Grant
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1822|5|27|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1861|8|27|1822|5|27|df=y}}
|death_place = [[India]]
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates =
|known_for = First non-HBC settler in [[Colony of Vancouver Island]]
|title =
|parents =
|relations = [[Colquhoun Grant (British intelligence officer)|Colquhoun Grant]] (father)
}}

'''Walter Colquhoun Grant''' (27 May 1822 – 27 August 1861) was [[British Army]] officer and a pioneer settler in what is today [[British Columbia]]. He served briefly as a colonial surveyor but left after a few years to rejoin the army. He died while in the service in Saugor, Bengal, India at 39.

==Early life==
Grant was born in Edinburgh on 27 May 1822 into a military family, his father, [[Colquhoun Grant (British intelligence officer)|Colquhoun Grant]], having been chief of intelligence for [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]] during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name=CDB>{{citation|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4466|title=Grant, Walter Colquhoun|work=[[Dictionary of Canadian Biography]]|accessdate=8 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite ODNB |first=H. M. |last=Chichester |title=Grant, Colquhoun (1780–1829) |author2=S. Kinross |year=May 2006 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11251|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/11251}}</ref> Grant first joined the British Army sometime before 7 April 1843 when he was promoted, by [[Sale of commissions|purchase]], to [[first lieutenant|lieutenant]] in the [[2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys)]], having previously served in the regiment as a [[cornet (rank)|cornet]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20211|page=1154|date=7 April 1843}}</ref> He purchased the rank of captain on 18 April 1845.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20463|page=1184|date=18 April 1845}}</ref>

==Settlement in the colony==

Grant was the youngest [[captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in the [[British Army]] at age 24<ref name=CDB /> when he lost his fortune and started anew by buying {{convert|200|acre|km2}} of land from the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] at what would become [[Sooke, British Columbia]]. Although some sources claim he left the army altogether,<ref name=CDB /> the ''[[London Gazette]]'' shows that initially at least he merely transferred to the [[47th Regiment of Foot]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20866|page=2184|date=9 June 1848}}</ref> This would have raised a certain amount of capital, as cavalry commissions were more expensive than those in infantry regiments.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

Vancouver Island was first opened to settlement by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1849. At the outset there was little interest because of land cost (£1 per acre compared to free in the [[Oregon Territory]]) and because of the requirement that settlers bring other workers or families with them. Grant was the only settler to make the commitment initially and became the first independent colonist to settle on the island.<ref name=Gough2016>{{Cite book | last = Gough | first =Barry M | authorlink = Barry M. Gough | title =Britannia's Navy. On the West Coast of North America 1812-1914 | location=Vancouver | publisher =Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd.| year =2016 | isbn = 978-1-77203-109-6}}</ref>{{rp|120}} He sent 8 settlers on in advance and upon his arrival in 1849 he is said to have shot a cow believing it to be a buffalo. Although he lacked the necessary skills, he was employed by the HBC as its first surveyor. He resigned that role in March 1850 without completing a single survey.<ref name = lillard>{{Citation | last = Lillard | first = Charles | authorlink = Charles Lillard | title = Seven Shillings a Year, The History of Vancouver Island | place = Ganges, BC | publisher = Horsdad & Schubart | year = 1986 | isbn = 0-920663-03-6}}</ref>{{rp|120}}

Following his arrival, he cleared some of the land he had purchased and set up a sawmill. The land was located {{convert|40|km|mi}} from [[Fort Victoria (British Columbia)|Fort Victoria]]. Grant left the colony in 1850 to prospect for gold in [[Oregon]] and came back in 1853 to sell his land.

==Achievements==

While in the colony he collected data about the flora, fauna, natives and trade the later published in Journal of the [[Royal Geographical Society]] and did a map of [[Vancouver Island]] drawn by [[John Arrowsmith (cartographer)|John Arrowsmith]]. He reported the population in 1853 was 450 people, 300 at [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], 125 at [[Nanaimo]] and the remainder at [[Fort Rupert, British Columbia|Fort Rupert]]. He ignored native peoples in his count.<ref>{{Citation | last =Hayes | first = Derek | title =Historical Atlas of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest | place=Vancouver | publisher = Cavendish Books | year =1999 | isbn = 1-55289-900-4|page=139}}</ref>

In addition to being the first to bring non-HBC settlers to the [[Colony of Vancouver Island]], Grant is credited with bringing the first sports event, [[cricket]], to what is now British Columbia when he arrived in 1849.<ref>{{Citation | last = Kingston | first = Gary | title = B.C.'s first "sports event" probably a cricket match | newspaper = [[Vancouver Sun]] | date = 17 November 2008 | url = http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/features/bc150ed/story.html?id=61c0dcee-22d2-46b2-bf1c-2bb7856514d9 | accessdate =7 September 2009}}</ref>

He introduced what is now considered a noxious, invasive plant, [[Cytisus scoparius|Scotch broom]], to the island.<ref name = lillard/>{{rp|121}}<ref>{{Citation | title = Broom: Putting it in its place |publisher = Ministry of Forests and Range, Forest Practices Branch | url = http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/publications/00204/ | accessdate =7 September 2009}}</ref>

==Later life==

On 1 August 1854 he was appointed Captain Commandant (though confusingly he was also granted local rank as [[major (United Kingdom)|major]]) of a detachment of the [[Mounted Staff Corps]] to serve with a part of the British Army that was being deployed to Turkey in advance of what would eventually become the [[Crimean War]].<ref name=CDB /><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21579|page=2433|date=8 August 1854}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21581|page=2471|date=11 August 1854}}</ref> He was promoted local [[Lieutenant-Colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] on 27 October 1855.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21812|page=4132|date=9 November 1855}}</ref> He was granted regimental rank as a cornet in the [[2nd Dragoon Guards]] on 30 November 1855,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21822|page=4535|date=30 November 1855}}</ref> and promoted to lieutenant on 16 June 1857.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22024|page=2552|date=24 July 1857}}</ref> He was awarded the Turkish decoration of the [[Order of the Medjidieh]], 4th Class for his service.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22107|pages=1251–1568|date=24 July 1857}}</ref> The conflict in Crimea over, he served in India. He was [[brigade major]] at Lucknow, and during the [[Indian Mutiny]] commanded 1st [[Hodson's Horse]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22303|pages=3274–1568|date=2 September 1859}}</ref> He died in India at the age of 39.<ref name=enbc>{{citation |editor-last=Francis |editor-first=Daniel |title=Encyclopedia of British Columbia |orig-year=1999 |year=2000 |publisher=Harbour Publishing |isbn=1-55017-200-X |page=299}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.beaconhillparkhistory.org/contents/chapter3.htm Captain Grant shoots a cow on Beacon Hill] Beacon Hill Park History By Janis Ringuette 2004.
*[http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2788467 Grant's Description of Vancouver Island] [[National Library of Australia]] catalogue entry, Read, 22 June 1857.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=C_-zelweEcEC&pg=PA61 Contact and conflict: Indian-European relations in British Columbia, 1774-1890] By Robin Fisher at [[Google Books]].
*[http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/cricket/players/background.html Wakefield, Wickets and Captain Grant] Victoria's Pioneer Cricketers, University of Victoria
*[https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/resource/cart_rec/gmcflm.html Hudson's Bay Company Archives], Government of Manitoba

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Walter Colquhoun}}
[[Category:1822 births]]
[[Category:1861 deaths]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation British Columbia people]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company people]]
[[Category:Canadian surveyors]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 4th class]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:Royal Scots Greys officers]]
[[Category:2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) officers]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]

Walter Colquhoun Grant - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.