James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Seafield
Bt JP DL
Personal details
Born(1876-04-18)18 April 1876
Oamaru, New Zealand
Died12 November 1915(1915-11-12) (aged 39)
Flanders, France
Cause of deathDied of wounds
Resting placeLijssenthoek Military Cemetery
Spouse
Mary Townend
​
(m. 1898)​
ChildrenNina Ogilvie-Grant, 12th Countess of Seafield
Parent(s)Francis Ogilvie-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield
Anne Evans
Military service
RankCaptain
UnitQueen's Own Cameron Highlanders
Battles/warsWorld War I

Captain James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield, JP, DL (18 April 1876 – 12 November 1915), styled Viscount Reidhaven in 1888, was a Scottish peer and soldier. He is numbered as the 30th Chief of Clan Grant.

The 11th Earl of Seafield

Early life

Seafield was born on 18 April 1876 in Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand.[1][2] He was the eldest son of Francis Ogilvie-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield and Anne Trevor Corry Evans, daughter of Major George Evans. He had six siblings, including his brother, Trevor Ogilvie-Grant.[1]

He started his education at Warwick House preparatory school in Christchurch.[3] He then attended Christ's College and Lincoln College.[4] He succeeded to the earldom of Seafield and as 30th Chief of Clan Grant on his father's death in 1888. He lived in Auckland for a time before his marriage in 1898.[4]

Career

Seafield served as a Justice of the Peace for Banffshire, Morayshire, and Inverness-shire. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Elgin.[5]

Seafield served as a lieutenant in the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry, New Zealand Forces. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, the Bedfordshire Regiment, on 21 June 1902.[6] He fought in World War I as a captain in the 3rd Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, and was then attached to the 5th Battalion. The Cameron Highlanders' regimental commander was Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel who described Seafield as "brave as a lion".[7] In November 1915, he was supposed to be on leave from action, but his leave got cancelled and he died on 12 November 1915, aged 39, from wounds received in action.[2][8]

Personal life

Photograph of his wife, Mary Elizabeth Nina Townend, from The Sketch, 1898

On 22 June 1898 at Christchurch, Seafield married Mary Elizabeth Nina Townend, daughter of Dr. Joseph Henry Townend (1847–1902), JP and heiress of Annie Quayle Townend.[9][10] They had one daughter:

Lord Seafield died on 12 November 1915, aged 39, from wounds received at Flanders in Belgium. He is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.[12] Seafield was succeeded in the barony of Strathspey, the baronetcy of Colquhoun and as Chief of Clan Grant by his younger brother Hon. Trevor Ogilvie-Grant. The earldom and the other subsidiary Scottish peerage titles could be passed on to female heirs and, along with the vast estates, were inherited by his daughter. He was the grandfather of Ian Ogilvie-Grant, 13th Earl of Seafield.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Mennell, Philip (1892). "Seafield, Earl of" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
  2. ^ a b "Lady Pauline Ogilvie-Grant Nicholson; Aristocrat". The Herald. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Windsor Hotel". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Earl of Seafield". North Otago Times. Vol. CII, no. 13461. 4 January 1916. p. 7. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  5. ^ "No. 28769". The London Gazette. 31 October 1913. p. 7593.
  6. ^ "No. 27454". The London Gazette. 15 July 1902. p. 4513.
  7. ^ Lord Strathspey (1983). A History of Clan Grant. Phillimore. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-85033-442-5.
  8. ^ "Death of Lord Seafield". The Evening Post. Vol. XCI, no. 5. 7 January 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  9. ^ "The Social Sphere". The New Zealand Observer. Vol. XVIII, no. 1017. 25 June 1898. p. 8. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  10. ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Medical". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  11. ^ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (3 January 1930). "COUNTESS OF SEAFIELD IS REPORTED ENGAGED; Wealthy Scottish Peeress Said to Be Betrothed to Derek S. Herbert, Eton Athlete". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Ogilvie-Grant, James". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  13. ^ Mosley, Charles (2003). Burke's Peerage. Vol. 3 (107th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 3552. ISBN 978-0-9711966-2-9.
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Earl of Seafield
1888–1915 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baron Strathspey
1888–1915 		Succeeded by