Elizabeth Grant (diarist)

Elizabeth Grant
Born 7 May 1797
Edinburgh
Died 16 November 1885(1885-11-16) (aged 88)
Blessington
Nationality United Kingdom
Occupation Diarist

Elizabeth Smith born Elizabeth Grant or Grant of Rothiemurchus (7 May 1797 – 16 November 1885) was a Scottish diarist. Over the course of her life, she lived in Scotland, England, India, Ireland, and France.[1]

Life

Grant was born in Edinburgh in 1797. Her father was John Peter Grant and Member of Parliament. Her brother, John Peter Grant, was the father of Jane Maria Strachey. As a child, she primarily spent time on her family's estate, Rothiemurchus, in Strathspey, and in London.[1] She and her family moved to Bombay in 1827. She married Colonel Henry Smith in 1829.[1]

She is known today for the journals that she wrote from the 1840s when she was living in France. However she published in magazines anonymously during her life to supplement her family's income.[1]

Grant died in Blessington in Ireland. Memoirs of a Highland Lady was originally written as a private memoir for her family[1]. The first public edition was only made available after her death.

Work

The first edition of Memoirs of A Highland Lady was published with the consent of Grant's daughter in 1898.[2] It was edited and abridged by Grant's niece, Jane Maria Strachey.[1] The first edition was printed four times in the space of one year, with succeeding editions following in 1911 (reprinted in 1928) and 1950.[1] However, the first complete and authentic edition was not published until 1988.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Christine Lodge, ‘Smith , Elizabeth (1797–1885)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 24 November 2017
  2. ↑ "CMSW – Memoirs of a Highland Lady". www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
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