Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

James William Grant, known as Hamish, was born on 20 March 1879 at Dunedin, the elder son of Scottish-born Alexander and Helen (Ellen) Lindsay (née Banks) Grant. James may have resided with his aunt in Dunedin and attended Caversham School for a time. In 1910 at Timaru, his sister, Jessie Christie Grant, married Rodolph Lysaght Wigley who established the Mount Cook Motor Service, later to become the Mount Cook Company; their six children were the only grandchildren of Alexander and Ellen. His younger brother, Alexander Drummond Grant, died in Dunedin at the age of ten. Alexander Grant purchased Grays Hills Station in the Mackenzie Country in 1881. On retiring, Alexander and Ellen built a home in 1908 in Timaru – “Aigantighe”, Alexander dying there in 1920. When his mother died in 1955 at the age of 101, James presented the “Aigantighe” home and gardens to the people of Timaru for an art gallery, as was her wish and the wish of her daughter Jessie Wigley. James William Grant became a partner in Grays Hills in 1908 and put in a manager when he enlisted in 1917. He married Marion Lorna Guthrie (Lorna) on 12 April 1916 at Christchurch. When James and Marion retired to Timaru,they acquired “The Croft”, bequeathing the homestead to the Presbyterian Social Services Association. James William Grant died on 19 June 1969 at Timaru, aged 90 years. He was cremated at Saisbury Park Crematorium, Timaru, and his ashes interred at Burke’s Pass Cemetery. “Of a retiring disposition, Mr Grant devoted a great deal of his time to his favourite hobby – philately. . . . . In July 1955 he won the Dominion’s premier award, the grand championship gold medal for New Zealand stamps, . . . . Mr Grant was a lover of trees - . . . .. Mr Grant held a deep interest in the Presbyterian Church.” [Timaru Herald, 20 June 1969]. Marion Lorna Grant died on 30 January 1972.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [14 July 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [14 July 2020]; Salisbury Park Crematorium record [15 July 2020; Burkes Pass Cemetery headstone transcription (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [15 July 2020]; Timaru Herald, 22 April 1916 (Papers Past) [17 July 2020]; Timaru Herald, 20 June 1969

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• GRANT James William - newspaper clippings (pdf, 317.7 KB updated 29-Jul-2020)

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.