James William Grant (astronomer)

James William Grant FRSE FRAS, 3rd Laird of Wester Elchies (1788–1865) was a Scottish astronomer and landowner.

He was the son of Robert Grant, Laird of Elchies, Knockando and Ballintomb (1720–1803), and his wife Isobel Campbell (born 1760).

[1] From 1805 until 1849 he worked for the East India Company, beginning in the role of Writer and rising to be its official Astronomer, based in Bengal.

In 1849, he returned to Scotland and built a private observatory from granite at Wester Elchies, flanked by a pair of sphinx.

[7] Children:[citation needed] His grandson James W H Grant was son-in-law to Sir Archibald Levin Smith who is also buried at Knockando.