Chapter Grafton to Gray of G by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Grafton to Gray

Grafton, Richard (died 1572).—Printer and chronicler, printed various editions of the Bible and Prayer- book; also the Proclamation of the Accession of Lady Jane Grey, for which he was cast into prison, where he compiled an Abridgement of the Chronicles of England (1563). To this he added in 1568 A Chronicle at Large. Neither holds a high place as authorities.

Grahame, James (1765-1811).—Poet, son of a lawyer, was born and educated in Glasgow. After spending some time in a law office in Edinburgh, he was called to the Scottish Bar. His health being delicate, and his circumstances easy, retired from practice, and taking orders in the Church of England in 1809, was appointed curate successively of Shipton, Gloucestershire, and Sedgefield, Durham. He wrote several pleasing poems, of which the best is The Sabbath (1804). He died on a visit to Glasgow in his 47th year His poems are full of quiet observation of country sights expressed in graceful verse.

Grahame, Simon or Simion (1570-1614).—born in Edinburgh, led a dissolute life as a traveller, soldier, and courtier on the Continent. He appears to have been a good scholar, and wrote the Passionate Sparke of a Relenting Minde, and Anatomy of Humours, the latter of which is believed to have suggested to Burton his Anatomy of Melancholie. He became an austere Franciscan.

Granger, James (1721-1766).—Poet, of a Cumberland family, studied medicine at Edinburgh, was an army surgeon, and on the peace settled in practice in London, where he became the friend of Dr. Johnson, Shenstone, and other men of letters. His first poem, Solitude, appeared in 1755. He subsequently went to the West Indies (St. Kit’s), where he made a rich marriage, and published his chief poem, The Sugar-Cane (1764).

Granger, James (1723-1776).—Biographer, was at Oxford and, entering the Church, became Vicar of Shiplake, Oxon. He published a Biographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution (1769). He insisted on the importance of collecting engravings of portraits and himself gathered 14,000, and gave a great impulse to the practice of making such collections.

Grant, Mrs. Anne (M‘Vicar) (1755-1838).—w as born in Glasgow, and in 1779 married the Rev. James Grant, minister of Laggan, Inverness-shire. She published in 1802 a vol. of poems. She also wrote Letters from the Mountains, and Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlands. After 1810 she lived in Edinburgh, where she was the friend of Sir W. Scott and other eminent men, through whose influence a pension of £100 was bestowed upon her.

Grant, James (1822-1887).—Novelist, was the son of an officer in the army, which he himself served for a short time. He wrote upwards of 50 novels in a brisk, breezy style, of which the best known are perhaps The Romance of War (1845), Adventures of an Aide-de-Camp, Frank Hilton, Bothwell, Harry Ogilvie, and The Yellow Frigate. He also wrote biographies of Kirkcaldy of Grange, Montrose, and others which, however, are not always trustworthy from an historical point of view.

Grant, James Augustus (1827-1892).—Traveller, was an officer in the army, and was sent by the Royal Geographical Society along with Captain John Hanning Speke (1827-1864), to search for the equatorial lakes of Africa. Grant wrote A Walk across Africa, The Botany of the Speke and Grant Expedition, and Khartoum as I saw it in 1863. Speke wrote Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile (1863), and What led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile(1864).

Grattan, Thomas Colley (1792-1864).—Miscellaneous writer, born in Dublin, and educated for the law, but did not practise. He wrote a few novels, including The Heiress of Bruges (4 vols., 1830); but his best work was Highways and Byways, a description of his Continental wanderings, of which he published three series. He also wrote a history of the Netherlands and books on America. He was for some time British Consul at Boston, U.S.

Gray, David (1838-1861).—Poet, son of a hand-loom weaver at Kirkintilloch, Dumbartonshire. He gave early promise at school, was destined for the service of the Church, and was for 4 years at Glasgow University while he maintained himself by teaching. His first poems appeared in the Glasgow Citizen.