William Robert Ogilvie-Grant


William Robert Ogilvie-Grant was a Scottish ornithologist.

Early life and education

Second son of Capt. Hon. George Henry Essex Ogilvie-Grant, of Easter Elchies, Craigellachie, Scotland, of the 42nd Highlanders, sixth son of Francis Ogilvy-Grant, 6th Earl of Seafield, Ogilvie-Grant was educated at Cargilfield Preparatory School and Fettes College, Edinburgh, where he studied zoology and anatomy.

Career

In 1882 he became an Assistant at the Natural History Museum. He studied ichthyology under Albert C. L. G. Günther, and in 1885 he was put in temporary charge of the Ornithological Section during Richard Bowdler Sharpe's visit to India. He remained in that department, eventually becoming Curator of Birds from 1909 to 1918.
He also succeeded Bowdler Sharpe as editor of the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, a post he held from 1904–1914.
Ogilvie-Grant made many collecting trips, especially to Socotra and the Madeira and Canary islands.
Ogilvie-Grant is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of gecko, Hemidactylus granti, which is endemic to Socotra.

Personal life

Ogilvie-Grant married Maud Louisa, daughter of Admiral Mark Robert Pechell; they had a son and three daughters. Son Mark Ogilvie-Grant was a diplomat and botanist, as well as a member of the Bright Young Things. The eldest daughter, Eleanora, was maternal grandmother to Jane Beuttler, wife of the politician Alan Clark.