Item 0009 - Letter, 6 October 1877

Sir James Alexander Grant was born on August 11, 1831, in Inverness, Scotland.

He was a physician and politician. He came to Canada with his parents and studied at the University of Queen's College and McGill College (M.D., 1854). He served as president of the College of Surgeons of Ontario and president of the Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum of Ottawa. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, president of the Tuberculosis Association of Canada, the Canadian Medical Association, and was a delegate to many international medical congresses. He was an honorary member of the American Academy of Medicine. Grant represented Russell in the House of Commons of Canada as a Conservative Party of Canada member from 1867 to 1874. He also represented the City of Ottawa in the federal parliament from 1893 to 1896. He published a number of articles in medical journals in England and Canada and served as a physician to several Governors-General from 1867 to 1905. He was also a member of the Geological Society of England and also published articles on geological subjects. He was knighted in 1887.

In 1856, he married Maria Malloch (1835–1922). He died on February 6, 1920, in Ottawa, Ontario.