William Grant, Lord Grant

Not to be confused with the 18th-century Scottish politician and judge, William Grant, Lord Prestongrange.

The Right Honourable
Lord Grant
TD PC
Lord Justice Clerk
In office
25 September 1962 – 19 November 1972
Nominated byhimself
Appointed byElizabeth II
Preceded byLord Thomson
Succeeded byLord Wheatley
Lord Advocate
In office
6 April 1960 – 25 September 1962
Nominated byHarold Macmillan
Appointed byElizabeth II
Preceded byWilliam Rankine Milligan
Succeeded byIan Shearer
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Woodside
In office
26 May 1955 – 25 September 1962
Preceded byWilliam Gordon Bennett
Succeeded byNeil Carmichael
Solicitor General for Scotland
In office
13 January 1955 – 6 April 1960
Nominated byWinston Churchill
Appointed byElizabeth II
Preceded byWilliam Rankine Milligan
Succeeded byDavid Anderson
Personal details
Born19 June 1909
Dufftown, Moray, Scotland
Died19 November 1972(1972-11-19) (aged 63) –
Lynchat, Scottish Highlands
Political partyUnionist
SpouseMargaret Milne
Children3
ResidenceMoray Place, Edinburgh
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
ProfessionAdvocate

William Grant, Lord Grant, TD, PC (19 June 1909 – 19 November 1972) was a Scottish advocate, a Unionist politician, and a judge. Born to the Grant's distillery family who created Glenfiddich whisky, he was one of Scotland's Great Officers of State for the last 12 years of his life.

A classical scholar and talented orator[1][2] who nonetheless lost his first two election campaigns, Grant sat in the House of Commons from 1955 to 1962. Throughout that period he was a Law Officer: first Solicitor General for Scotland, then Lord Advocate.

He left Parliament in 1962 to become Lord Justice Clerk, the second most senior judge in Scotland. His work included chairing the eponymous Grant Committee, a major inquiry into the working of Scotland's sheriff courts.

While still in office, Grant died in a traffic collision in the Scottish Highlands, with alcohol in his blood. The crash left two other men dead and a young family seriously injured.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference aberdeen-ee-1955-11-11-sol-gen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference times-obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference herald-1973-fai was invoked but never defined (see the help page).