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Other Pages : Grant Family Trees

For those with Family Tree software, there are links here below to some family trees in .txt format for you to download. (You can convert them to GEDCOM files for use in your family tree software, simply by changing the file extension to .ged)

How the files have been constructed:

As can be seen only too quickly, some liberties have been taken with the format to maximise the amount of information in the minimum number of fields (and hence also to keep the overall file size down to a minimum). Please note also that GEDCOM does not retain eg. spousal preferences. Thus, in this instance, the first wife listed may lead you into a cul-de-sac.

There are so many "Grants" in the tree (perhaps unsurprisingly!) that an attempt has been made to make some distinction easier in some ways:

1. capitalising the surname GRANT in the case of the Chiefs;

2. listing the major cadet houses by house name - Ballindalloch, Rothiemurchus, Dalvey etc. (hence John Grant of Ballindalloch may appear in your index eg as "Ballindalloch, John Grant of" and the birthplace field shows the place in the order of that house);

3. joining many titles to forenames - thus "Sir James Grant" appears as "Sir_James Grant" and so under "S" if you are searching by forename. The same applies to "Dr", "Rt_Hon", "Rev", "Capt", "Major", "Gen" etc. You may well wish to decouple these, but in the meantime we hope you too may find it an aid to navigation between so may people who would otherwise have exactly the same names not only as each other but also with so many others as well (eg there are 24 Elizabeth Grants!)

Many individuals are left unnamed, so they have been given the name Yyy (for an anonymous male) and Xxx (for an anonymous female). Moreover in some cases a number of such anonymous people are mentioned - especially where eg a girl who married into the Grants is specified as someone`s "third daughter". In this case XXa and XXb have been used to specify the two elder ones. In other cases Fraser mentions eg "three other sons" and these may be represented in the file as "Yythreemore". Fraser also recognises some lines he chose not to follow up (usually in the case of a Grant girl marrying "out" - simply saying that the marriage "had issue". In this case such issue is recognised in the file as "YES Ogilvie" or whatever the surname might be and the default sex (female) is of no relevance.

So you may wish to do a pretty thorough editing job once you have these files in your own software.

Sources of data:

The main source of information lies in the Appendices of Sir William Fraser`s "Chiefs of Grant". Thery are offered "as is" - ie no attempt has been made to amend them for errors whether of omission or commission. One or two links have been made however, in associated families eg where Fraser specified that cousins were married. It may become obvious that there are several more of these interlinkages, but were they to be forced them it would be assumption only. However as there are several keen - avid - genealogists out there, so it is to be hoped that we may be able to offer updated and more complete trees in due course. In particular, Fraser`s trees naturally finish around 1880, so there are several generations to add on to several of the lines. We already have the relevant tree for the Chief`s own line ("SPG_Tree" including only the information published in the Late Lord Strathspey`s "History of Clan Grant").

It turns out that all the trees mesh together with the exception of the Grants of Kilgraston - so that is a small separate file. However it should be noted that if one uses Fraser`s data alone, no blood line connection can be shown linking eg Sir Patrick Grant of Dalvey to the Chief`s line - and this applies also to Tullochgorm and to the 1st house of Ballindalloch. However the following should be noted......

(1) Clan Donnachie: CT asserts that the original "Duncan" was the younger of the illegitimate sons of Sir Duncan Grant, 1st of Freuchie. MT (p21) asserts that the original "Duncan" of Dalvey`s "Clan Donnachie" was the illegitimate son of one of the John Grants and a maid at Balachastel. If this is the case, it is most likely that this was John Grant Younger of Freuchie (d 1482) - Sir Duncan`s son. John named his legitimate children William and John, while by "normal" naming patterns, the eldest should surely have been Duncan. However CT`s proposition if clearly feasible. The best bet is on John Grant.. Either way Fraser`s "John McConquhy Grant" would be this Duncan`s son. Similarly......

(2) 1st House of Ballindalloch: Both CT (page 109) and MT (p25) asserts that the 1st of the 1st Ballindalloch line was the twin brother of John Grant, son of and successor to Sir Duncan Grant. However there is a problem here, for Sir Duncan was succeeded by his grandson - not his son - and both were called John. The key probably lies in the curious story of his being his nephew`s tutor. MT (26) says that Bard Roy was left a minor when Sir Duncan died (1485) yet he had married in 1484. But CT (109) says that Patrick of Ballindalloch was Bard Roy`s brother. Even this is problematic as James Grant 3rd of Freuchie must have been of age in 1528 when his father died (his son John was married before Feb. 1539, so James must have been married and a father by, say 1521). Neither MT nor CT recognise John Grant Younger of Freuchie at all.

Fraser says James, 3rd of Freuchie was not retoured as heir until 1536 - an 8-year gap otherwise unaccounted for. Ballindalloch`s pretensions to chiefship would be well supported by the story surrounding his birth (MT 25). So Fraser`s Patrick Grant, 1st of 1st Ballindalloch is most likely to have been the younger twin brother of John "Bard Roy" Grant and the grandson of Sir Duncan.

(3) Clan Phadraig: Fraser, CT and MT are unanimous in recognising Patrick Grant as the progenitor of the House of Tullochgorm. CT (109) says that, like Duncan above, this Patrick was an illegitimate son of Sir Duncan. MT (22) implies that it is a John who fathered the Patrick naming him after his father. Patrick was a witness in 1530. If Patrick`s grandfather was also Patrick, he would need to be the son of Sir John Roy - hence born before 1434 - and highly unlikely to be acting as a witness at the age of 96+. However using more "normal" inter-generational gaps brings us to around 1460 again making him a potential son either of Sir Duncan or of John Grant Younger of Freuchie.

Given that John Grant Younger of Freuchie had a legitimate son Patrick (see Ballindalloch above), it seems most reasonable that Patrick of Tullochgorm should have been the son of Sir Duncan himself. We are not helped by Patrick`s mother (variously wife or daughter of Baron Lamb of Tullochcarron) for that family was still there by the time Patrick of Ballindalloch was an adult.

It seems most likely that MT confused the stories about the illegitmate Duncan and Patrick when it came to the "naming after his father" bit.

Early disconnected individuals: The individuals prior to the "Robert" before John Roy Grant have not been included. Although Fraser has some chiefs before this (he starts with Sir Lawrence) he does not show how the tree went, and indeed only "supposes" Robert to have been John Roy`s father.

Fraser errors: Several people have indicated that Fraser made errors in these family trees. Naturally there are huge errors at the beginning (where he has the story all wrong), but only "Robert" at the very beginning fits this bill. As for other errors, it would be a good idea to construct an amended tree, but those with the information will need to come forward.

Downloads:

To download the files:

These files are in text format to enable you to download them from this website. To use them in your Family Tree software you may need to convert them to GEDCOM files by changing the file extension to .ged :

Right-click: "Save Target As":
Save as type: Text document (*.txt)
Open document (in notepad for example) - "File - Save As"
Save with .ged file extension

STG_Tree (8 KB) - starts from Sir James Ogilvie-Grant, uncle of the last chief in Fraser`s tree.

WF_Tree1 (191 KB) - is the main Fraser tree including some 1600 individuals.

WF_Tree2 (21 KB) - is the Kilgraston line (the MacRobbie Grants of Glenlochy).

(Note: WF_Tree1 was updated in March 2011 to include a small omitted section and to make the major cadet lines easier to find.)

Going Further:

A good place to start exploring these genealogical lines further is on Brian Thompsett`s site at Hull University. Some purists have been very quick to criticise "obvious" errors - but they miss the point. Not only does Brian Thompsett acknowledge many impossibilities etc., he does not pretend to make decisions about the sources from which he has drawn the information. Rather he simply specifies them. It should be added that the task he has set himself is Herculean.

The Clan Grant Centre Trust