James Shaw Grant
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James Shaw Grant FRSE CBE (22 May 1910 – 28 July 1999) was a writer and journalist from the Isle of Lewis.[http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits.../grant_james.pdf/ James Shaw Grant Biography] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120911033206/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits.../grant_james.pdf/ |date=2012-09-11 }} He was strongly associated with the Highlands and Islands Development Board.
Life
He was born in Stornoway and educated at the Nicholson Institute in Stornoway. He then attended Glasgow University gaining an MA 1931.
He became editor of the Stornoway Gazette in 1932 following on from his father{{Cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/james-shaw-grant-1.278952/ |title=James Shaw Grant |date=3 August 1999 |access-date=7 July 2025 |work=The Herald |location=Glasgow}} and held this post until 1963.{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=29 July 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}
In 1956 he broadcast A Gaelic capital on BBC Scotland, an audio tour of Stornoway. He wrote a number of books about crofting communities, such as the comic novel The Enchanted Island.
From 1972 to 1984 he was Chairman of the Harris Tweed Association. He was also Chairman of the Crofters Commission 1963 to 1978.{{Cite web |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/grant_james.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=29 July 2016 |archive-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818041531/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/grant_james.pdf |url-status=dead }}
In 1979 the University of Aberdeen awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD).{{Cite news |url=https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000446/19790710/064/0007 |title=Aberdeen University |date=10 July 1979 |access-date=7 July 2025 |newspaper=The Inverness Courier |page=7 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}}
In 1982 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Fraser Noble, Lord Cameron, Anthony Elliot Ritchie, Neill Campbell, Thomas L Johnston and Sir Kenneth Alexander.{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=29 July 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}
He died in Aberdeen on 28 July 1999.
Family
In 1951 he married Catherine Mary Stewart (d.1989).
Books
- Highland Villages, 1977, Hale, {{ISBN|0-7091-5886-6}}
- The Hub of my Universe, 1982, James Thin, {{ISBN|0-9508371-0-5}}
- The Gaelic Vikings, 1984, James Thin, {{ISBN|0-9508371-2-1}}
- Discovering Lewis & Harris, 1987, John Donald, {{ISBN|0-85976-185-1}}
- The Enchanted Island, 1989, J. S. Grant, {{ISBN|0-9508371-4-8}}
- A Shilling for Your Scowl: The History of a Scottish Legal Mafia, 1991, Acair, {{ISBN|0-86152-898-0}}
- Morrison of the Bounty: A Scotsman - Famous But Unknown, 1997, Acair, {{ISBN|0-86152-197-8}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/fellowship/obits/obits_alpha/grant_james.pdf Biography ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926231445/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/fellowship/obits/obits_alpha/grant_james.pdf |date=26 September 2007 }} from the Royal Society of Edinburgh
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Category:People from the Isle of Lewis
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Category:Scottish newspaper editors
Category:Scottish broadcasters
Category:20th-century Scottish novelists
Category:Scottish male novelists