James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield


The Earl of Seafield

The 11th Earl of Seafield
Tenure3 December 1888 – 12 November 1915
PredecessorFrancis William Ogilvy-Grant
SuccessorNina Caroline Ogilvy-Grant
Other titles3rd Baron Strathspey, 15th Baronet Colquhoun
Born(1876-04-18)18 April 1876
Oamaru, New Zealand
Died12 November 1915(1915-11-12) (aged 39)
Flanders, Belgium
Cause of deathDied of wounds
BuriedLijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium
IssueNina Ogilvy-Grant, 12th Countess of Seafield
ParentsFrancis Ogilvy-Grant
Nina Evans

Captain James Ogilvy-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield, 3rd Baron Strathspey JP DL (18 April 1876 – 12 November 1915) was a New Zealand soldier who succeeded to the Earldom of Seafield in the Peerage of Scotland.

Early life

Seafield was born in 1876 in Oamaru, New Zealand,[1][2] the eldest child of Francis Ogilvy-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield,[1] and Ann Trevor Corry Evans. He had six siblings, including his brother, Trevor Ogilvy-Grant.

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.[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 was commissioned 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 Cameron Highlanders. 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 at Flanders in Belgium.[2][7]

Personal life

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

Seafield lived in Auckland before his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Nina Townend, the eldest daughter of Dr Joseph Henry Townend, of Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1898.[8][9] They had one daughter:

Lord Seafield died on 12 November 1915, aged 39, from wounds received at Flanders in Belgium.[11] 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 Ogilvy-Grant. The earldom and the other subsidiary Scottish peerages could be passed on to female heirs, and were inherited by his daughter Nina Caroline Ogilvy-Grant.

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. ^ "Death of Lord Seafield". The Evening Post. Vol. XCI, no. 5. 7 January 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  8. ^ "The Social Sphere". The New Zealand Observer. Vol. XVIII, no. 1017. 25 June 1898. p. 8. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  9. ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Medical". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "EARL OF SEAFIELD KILLED.; Was a Captain in Cameron Hlghlanders and Chief of His Clan". The New York Times. 16 November 1915. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Ogilvie-Grant, James". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
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