Anne MacVicar Grant
Anne MacVicar Grant was a notable Scottish author born in 1755. She spent her early childhood in America, where her father, a British Army officer, was stationed. During this time, she received a private education and developed a passion for writing, which she pursued throughout her life. After returning to Scotland in 1768, Grant married Reverend James Grant and raised twelve children, though financial difficulties arose after her husband's untimely death in 1799. To support her family, she turned to writing and published her first collection of poetry in 1803, which garnered nearly three thousand subscribers. Her subsequent works, including the successful "Letters from the Mountains," showcased her reflections on life in Scotland. Grant also wrote a biography of her former tutor and continued to produce literary works until 1814. Throughout her life, she maintained an extensive correspondence that documented her experiences and thoughts. Today, she is recognized for her contributions to Scottish literature and her role as a pioneer for women writers of her time.
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Subject Terms
Anne MacVicar Grant
Author
- Born: February 21, 1755
- Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
- Died: November 7, 1838
Biography
Born in Scotland in 1755, Anne MacVicar Grant was the daughter of a British Army officer. Grant was three when her family moved to America to be with her father, who was stationed in New York. During her ten years in America, Grant was privately educated by Catalina Schuyler, an aristocrat who took an interest in her. The family returned to Scotland in 1768, where her father was stationed at Fort Augustus. During this time, Grant began corresponding with family and friends through letters that described her life in Scotland. Grant kept up a prolific correspondence for the rest of her life.
In 1779 Grant married the Reverend James Grant, who was assigned to a parish in Laggan, Scotland. Over the course of their marriage they had twelve children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. James Grant died unexpectedly in 1799, leaving Grant and her children suddenly destitute. Since she had always been interested in literature and enjoyed writing, Grant decided to earn extra money by selling her work. In 1803 Grant published her first poetry collection, which was available only by subscription. She collected nearly three thousand subscribers for this volume, which was originally called Poems on Various Subjects and later known as The Highlanders, and Other Poems. Three years later Grant moved to Edinburgh with her family, and there she began teaching students in her home. She also published her second work, Letters from the Mountains, which was a collection of her earlier correspondence about her experiences in Scotland. Letters from the Mountains was extremely successful. In 1808 Grant published a biography of her former tutor, Catalina Schuyler, entitled Memoirs of an American Lady. Grant ended her writing career in 1814 with the publication of the long poem Eighteen Hundred and Thirteen. She continued writing letters until the end of her life.