Attributed to Sir Francis Grant , Ra 1803-1878 Charles Thomas Constantine Grant, Jp, Dl, 1832-1891, Laird of Kilgraston

Sir Francis Grant, PRA, 1803-1878

Portrait of Charles Thomas Constantine Grant, JP, DL, , 1832-1891

17th June 1847

Signed/Inscribed:

on a label "Charles T.C.Grant 2nd son of / John Grant of Kilgraston/ Leftto J Pat.....Hamilton Grant Bul... Prestwick"

pastel

38.50 x 30 cm (15.1/4 x 12in.)

Charles Thomas Constantine Grant was the second son of John Grant of Kilgraston, near Bridge of Earn, Perthshire and his wife Lady Lucy Bruce (3rd daughter of the Earl of Elgin. He was born in 1832 at Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.He was the third eldest of 13 siblings and Nephew of the Artist Sir Francis Grant PRA. 1803-1878. He married Janet Matilda Hay on the 8th October 1856 , she was the daughter of William Hay and Mary Garstin and they had a daughter Lucy Blanche Cordelia Grant.

Charles Grant entered the Navy at an early age. He served as a Midshipman on HMS Agincourt in 1846 , the flagship in which the Rajah Sir James Brooke 1803-1868 accompanied Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane from Sarawak to Brunei. Grant became a favorite of the Rajah who took an interest in his career; they met again in England during 1847. Grant served with Charlie Johnson,(who would later become the 2nd Rajah Brooke ) Brookes nephew and son of his sister. Brooke enjoyed the vivacity of the young Boys on these ships , He called "Grant Hoddy Doddy". James Brooke had assiduously courted Grant with letters , poems and handsome presents ever since he first encountered the boy on HMS Agincourt in 1846. Brooke had arranged for "Hoddy Doddy " to be transferred to Kepples command and used his considerable charm to persuade the Laird of Kilgraston to let his son leave the navy and start work in the Sarawak Service once the Meander arrived in Kuching. Brooke had wanted his nephew Charlie Johnson also to quit the Navy for Sarawak. He had also persuaded Charlie's elder brother Brooke Johnson to leave the army and come to Sarawak with the promise of making him his heir, he became the Rajah's Aide-de-Camp and held the Title Tuan Besar. He had also changed his name to Brooke Brooke by deed pole. Their Cousin Arthur Crookshank aged 19 was also asked to join them and he remained there in charge suported by 2-3 ex seamen and frank McDougall the Bishop of Sarawak, while the Rajah James Brooke had returned to England.

Grant was appointed to HMS Meander, the ship that carried the Rajah back to Sarawak in 1848 after his triumphs in England where he had been acclaimed by the nation and knighted by the Queen.Rajah brought much needed reinforcements on his return, Spencer St John was to be the Rajah's private secretary. James Brooke wrote to the boy's father in Scotland proposing that he should leave the Navy and make his career in Sarawak . He became the Rajah's private secretary, and a valued member of the Government Service. Charlie Johnson met James Brooke in the early 1851 while James Brooke had called in at Malta with 2 Hoddy Doddy " when he finally agreed to work for his Uncle. Charlie Johnson arrived in Kuching in 1852 with James Brooke and Grant returning in 1853 after 2 years absence. Charles Grant served sixteen years in Sarawak with Brooke Brooke and remained till the end of his life a devoted and loyal friend. A strain in the freindship with James Brooke appeared in 1857 when Brooke Brooke and Charles Grant returned to Kuching with wives, Brooke Brooke marrying Grant's sister Annie and Grant had married his sisters friend Matilda Hay. The two wives had quickly transformed the masculine word of Kuching with a new moral and social regime centered on the piano and Parlour. James Brooke increasingly felt his separation from Charles Grant blaming Brooke Brooke and also suffering from ill health James Brooke made plans for retirement. Cassandra Pybus book "White Rajah" goes into much detail about dynastic succession where Brooke Brooke was bypassed for Charlie