Guide to the Papers of John Grant (as filmed by the AJCP), 1769-1810

 

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Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
M462
Creator:
Grant, John
Extent:
44 items
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-987654321)

Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

This collection consists chiefly of letters by Grant to his mother and sister in England, 1803-1810, and a journal, Jan. 1805 - March 1810, written in French and transcribed and translated by W.S. Hill-Reid, Yvonne Cramer and others. The letters and journal contain detailed accounts of Grant's experiences in the colony and descriptions of the people and places he encountered, including Simeon Lord, John Palmer, Governor Bligh, and Vaucluse House.

The collection also includes Grant's "Bond of union", 1805, his instrument of protest that resulted in his deportation to Norfolk Island. Also included in the collection are petitions ; certificates, legal documents; correspondence with Robert Campbell, 1806-1807; a notebook, 1809; poetry, 1804-1805; and other papers.

The collection was discovered in the vaults of Lloyd's Bank in London by Mr W.S.Hill-Reid.

Biographical / Historical:

{"persname":"John Grant (b. 1776)","content":"\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eJohn Grant (b. 1776)\u003c/span\u003e was born in Longley, Buckinghamshire, and educated at Christ's hospital, London. In 1791 he was apprenticed to his uncle, a London clockmaker. He later worked as a clerk in an import company, Duval \u0026 Co, and later formed his own import company in partnership with William Deeks. The company went bankrupt in 1802, owing to the loss of cargoes at sea. His illegitimate daughter was born in 1803."}

Several years earlier, Grant had fallen in love with Anna Maria Ward, the daughter of Viscount Dudley and Ward. In 1799 he was charged with harassing Anna Maria and her mother and was bound over to keep the peace. In 1803 he was imprisoned in Clerkenwell Prison for 'having terrorised Miss Ward and Lady Dudley'. Subsequently he fired a pistol at the family's solicitor, Spencer Townsend, and although Townsend was unhurt Grant was charged with attempted murder. He was sentenced to death, but shortly before the time of execution, the sentence was commuted to transportation. He left England on the Coromandel in December 1803 and arrived in Sydney in May 1804.

Grant worked on a farm at Parramatta under relatively easy conditions and formed a friendship with another gentleman convict, Sir Henry Hayes. While living in Sydney he began writing verse and he wrote a number of odes on the King's Birthday over the next five years. He was given a conditional pardon in February 1805. However, he could not reconcile himself to his position in a penal colony. In letters he attacked Governor King for his lack of justice. He was transferred to Norfolk Island in May 1805, where he proceeded to denounce Captain John Piper. In October 1805 he drafted a prisoner's manifesto, entitled "Bond of Union', calling for a government of men of integrity, as well as freedom of the press, trial by jury and other reforms. In 1806 he was banished to Phillip Island for four months and living in near isolation his health deteriorated rapidly. By 1808 most of the convicts had been removed from Norfolk Island and Grant settled briefly at Hobart, before returning to Sydney. He joined Hayes at his home 'Vaucluse' and renewed his friendships with Simeon Lord, James Williamson and the artist John Lewin. Testimonials in Grant's favour were sent to Governor Bligh and his successor Governor Macquarie and the latter granted him a full pardon in 1810. He returned to England in 1811 and became a merchant in Margate in Kent. He married a widow in 1818, but she died a year later. The date of Grant's death is not known.

Sources:W.S. Hill-Reid. John Grant's journey: a convict's story, London, Heinemann, 1957

Yvonne Cramer. This beauteous, wicked place: letters and journals of John Grant, gentleman convict, Canberra, National Library of Australia, 2000

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Available for access.
Conditions Governing Use:
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-987654321)

Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: