Donald Ogilvie GRANT (1870

Donald Ogilvie GRANT (1870 - 1949)

Children	Self + Spouses	Parents	Grandparents	Greatgrandparents
Dorothy Jean Maryna GRANT (1916 - 1988) Donald GRANT (1918 - 2006) Dulcie GRANT (1920 - 2013) David Charles GRANT (1923 - 1943) Dallas Hume GRANT (1925 - 1980) Living	Donald Ogilvie GRANT (1870 - 1949) + Dorothy EADE (1893 - 1973) Elizabeth Grace TURNBULL	John James 'Hamish' Olgilvie GRANT



		Jean WILSON

b. abt 1870 at Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland

m. (1) 14 Jul 1914 Dorothy EADE (1893 - 1973) at Townsville, Queensland, Australia

m. (2) 27 Feb 1935 Elizabeth Grace TURNBULL at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

d. 03 Mar 1949 at Murrindindi, Victoria, Australia aged 79

Near Relatives of Donald Ogilvie GRANT (1870 - 1949)
Relationship	Person	Born	Birth Place	Died	Death Place	Age
Father in Law	Charles St Claire EADE	30 Jun 1857	St Pancras, Middlesex, England	18 Jan 1937	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	79
Mother in Law	Maryna Johanna VORSTER	27 Jul 1859	Middlefontein, Burghersdrop, South Africa	27 Oct 1948	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	89

Father	John James 'Hamish' Olgilvie GRANT
Mother	Jean WILSON

Self	Donald Ogilvie GRANT	abt 1870	Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland	03 Mar 1949	Murrindindi, Victoria, Australia	79

Wife	Dorothy EADE	25 Apr 1893	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	21 Sep 1973	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	80
Wife	Elizabeth Grace TURNBULL

Daughter	Dorothy Jean Maryna GRANT	30 Mar 1916		30 Dec 1988	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	72
Son	Donald GRANT	23 Dec 1918		03 Feb 2006	Mackay, Queensland, Australia	87
Daughter	Dulcie GRANT	06 Feb 1920	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	30 Jan 2013	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	92
Son	David Charles GRANT	11 Nov 1923	Granite Hills, Queensland, Australia	20 Dec 1943	Boppard, Germany	20
Son	Dallas Hume GRANT	01 Aug 1925		29 Dec 1980	Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia	55
Son	Living or Recently Deceased

Son in Law	David BUCHANAN
Daughter in Law	Ada Alexina SIM	1920		20 Mar 2011	Mackay, Queensland, Australia	91
Son in Law	Benjamin STEEN	11 Dec 1916	Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia	15 Sep 1987	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	70
Daughter in Law	Living or Recently Deceased
Daughter in Law	Living or Recently Deceased

Grandson	Living or Recently Deceased
Grandson	Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter	Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter	Living or Recently Deceased
Grandson	Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter	Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter	Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter	Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter	Living or Recently Deceased
Grandson	Living or Recently Deceased
Granddaughter	Living or Recently Deceased

Nephew	Edward Vivian WARE			1919	Queensland, Australia
Niece	Violet Mary Anne WARE	1909	Queensland, Australia
Niece	Maryna Josephine WARE	1911	Queensland, Australia
Nephew	Alfred Charles William WARE	1913	Queensland, Australia
Niece	Luzyja Spencer WILLS
Niece	Thelma Marguerite Spencer WILLS	03 Jul 1914	Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia	03 Mar 1995	Ayr, Queensland, Australia	80
Nephew	Robert Spencer WILLS	abt 1915		1916	Queensland, Australia	1
Nephew	Cedric Spencer WILLS	07 Aug 1916	Queensland, Australia
Niece	Egbert Spencer WILLS	02 Feb 1922		27 Mar 2000	Ayr, Queensland, Australia	78
Niece	Living or Recently Deceased
Nephew	Glibert Edward LEWIS			1931	Queensland, Australia
Nephew	Vivian Charles EADE			1950	Queensland, Australia

Brother in Law	Charles Alfred (Albert Francis?) EADE	13 Jul 1875	Kensington, London, England	17 Dec 1908	Portsmouth, Hampshire, England	33
Brother in Law	Alfred Joseph Frederick John EADE	14 Nov 1877	Acton, Middlesex, England
Brother in Law	Henry Frederick EADE	28 Mar 1879	Acton, Middlesex, England	29 Mar 1969	Reading, Berkshire, England	90
Brother in Law	John Augustus EADE	31 May 1882	Hammersmith, Middlesex, England	10 May 1963	Rochford, Essex, England	80
Sister in Law	Josephine (Jo) Maryna EADE	15 Nov 1884	Port Augusta, South Australia	bef 01 Jan 1970	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	85
Sister in Law	Matilda Violet (Vi) Maryna EADE	17 Apr 1886	Inverell, New South Wales, Australia
Sister in Law	Lucea Margaret (Luzyja Margurette) EADE	27 Feb 1888	Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia	21 Jul 1974	Home Hill, Queensland, Australia	86
Sister in Law	Silver EADE	22 Oct 1890	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	1951	Queensland, Australia	61
Sister in Law	Saint Claire (Claire) EADE	28 Feb 1897	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	1950	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	53
Brother in Law	Charles Henry EADE	08 Jun 1899	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	08 Sep 1986	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	87
Brother in Law	Vivian Peter EADE	27 Nov 1902	Queensland, Australia	06 Oct 1941	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	38

Events in Donald Ogilvie GRANT (1870 - 1949)'s life
Date	Age	Event	Place	Notes	Src
abt 1870		Donald Ogilvie GRANT was born	Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland		18
14 Jul 1914	44	Married Dorothy EADE (aged 21)	Townsville, Queensland, Australia	1914/C3798	18
30 Mar 1916	46	Birth of daughter Dorothy Jean Maryna GRANT			18
23 Dec 1918	48	Birth of son Donald GRANT			18
06 Feb 1920	50	Birth of daughter Dulcie GRANT	Townsville, Queensland, Australia		18
11 Nov 1923	53	Birth of son David Charles GRANT	Granite Hills, Queensland, Australia		18
01 Aug 1925	55	Birth of son Dallas Hume GRANT			18
27 Feb 1935	65	Married Elizabeth Grace TURNBULL	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
20 Dec 1943	73	Death of son David Charles GRANT (aged 20)	Boppard, Germany	Note 1	18
03 Mar 1949	79	Donald Ogilvie GRANT died	Murrindindi, Victoria, Australia

Note 1: Germany-Air Battle, buried: in Killed in action. Body not found. memorial at Runnymede.

Source References:

18. Type: E-mail Message, Abbr: e-mails general pool, Title: e-mails general pool

- Reference = Gloria Sheehan 24-6-09 (Birth)

- Reference = Gloria Sheehan 24-6-09 (Marriage)

- Reference = Gloria Sheehan 24-6-09 (Name, Notes)

- Notes: Donald Ogilvie Grant to Elizabeth Turnbull
Marriage certificate 27th Feb 1935
Age 64 – birth then about 1870/71
Marital status : widower since 29th April 1915. Indicates only 1 child deceased so presumably indicates that first wife died in childbirth. Counting back 9 months for a pregnancy from April 1915 give July 1914.
Occupation: Miner
Birth: Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland
Father: James Ogilvie Grant
Father’s Occupation: Physician & surgeon
Mother: Jean Wilson

Donald Grant to Dorothy Eade
Marriage Certificate 4th July 1914:
Age 40 years (which was 19 years older than grandmother but she later said that he was a few years older than that) – birth then would be abt 1870/71 to 1874. Grandmother states his age in the missing person’s report filed in 1930 as 60 which confirms a birth year of abt 1870.
Occupation: Accountant
Birth: Forres, Morayshire, Scotland
Father: Hamish Grant (Hamish was a nickname for James/ John etc and did not exist as a formal name at that time)
Father’s Occupation: Surgeon
Mother: Jean Wilson

Donald Ogilvie Grant:
Death report 3rd March 1949
Age 78 years – birth abt 1870/71
Occupation: Grazier (miner on marriage cert in 1935)
Father: James Ogilvie Grant, Physician
Mother: Jean Grant formerly Wilson
Birth: Elgin, Scotland
Time in Aust, and which states: 38 years, all states (arriving then abt 1911)
Details of first marriage:
Place: Australia
At age: 44 (which would make it about 1915, the year he showed as being widowed)
To Whom: …….Kruiger (see notes)

Dorothy Eade met Donald Grant in Townsville around 1912 when he was travelling throughout Australia, apparently purchasing and training horses for the British Army. He had also apparently, prior to that, been in South Africa where he supposedly fought in the Boer War then joined Driscoll’s Scouts. Despite his apparent occupation, their marriage certificate gives his occupation as ‘accountant’ and later he was an ‘agent’ so it’s possible he wasn’t a qualified accountant. He was very well spoken with a Scottish accent, an excellent horseman and may have also been able to play the piano competently.
Dorothy was, at the time, the matron at the Quarantine Station in Townsville and it may be she met Donald when some of his horses went into quarantine. Dorothy’s parents did not approve of the association because of their age difference (Dorothy was only 19 at the time). They therefore waited until after she turned 21 on 25th (birth certificate says 26th) April 1914 before marrying on 4th July 1914. They married quietly, without fuss, at the Methodist Parsonage in Stokes Street, Townsville. (In itself it isn’t significant but in the light of other things it is worth noting that Dorothy’s birthday, 25/26th April, is very similar to the date- 29th April - Donald Ogilvie Grant claims that he was widowed. He also shows on his marriage certificate that there was 1 child ‘deceased’ from his first marriage indicating that his first wife died in childbirth. Nine months back from April 1915 is July 1914).

Donald’s age on their marriage certificate is 40 years which would mean that he was born about 1874 but she later told one of her children that Donald was actually ‘a few years older’ than that. This could mean that he was born any time from around 1870 onwards. He gave his birth place as Forres in Morayshire which had formerly been known as Elginshire, in Scotland. It seems that , with her parents already being against the union because of the age difference, Dorothy and Donald shaved a few more years off his age when they were planning to marry.
He showed his parents as being Hamish Grant a surgeon, and Jean nee Wilson.
Donald enlisted in WW1 stating in his enlistment papers that he had spent 5 ½ years in the NWMP in Canada, then a further period with the 2nd CMR before going with them to South Africa for the Boer War. He also stated that he had then been a Lieutenant with Driscolls Scouts.
Donald and Dorothy had six children between 1916 and 1928 and in 1930 he disappeared from a train between Giru and Ayr, North Queensland. The family story was that, since it had been during the Depression, and he was an agent carrying a briefcase, someone had thought he was carrying money, assaulted or killed him and thrown him from the train while crossing a river bridge, never to be seen again.

Over the years, mature thinking and a bit of research started to pose more questions than were answered. One thing was clarified by Scottish researchers – Hamish was not a formal name at the time and would have been used as a pet name for James or John or one of the derivatives. The name Hamish just does not appear in records for that period and we were assured that it was most likely James. Despite searches both with ‘snail mail’ and then the Internet, only two marriages could be located in Scotland for a James Grant to a Jean Wilson, both of them before Donald’s time and neither of which produced a son named Donald or even one born in his time period. In neither case was James a physician. (A surgeon names James Grant, and a Jean Wilson appear as parents on records for both Donald grant and Donald Ogilvie Grant but there is no record of a surgeon James Grant married to Jean Wilson either)
Searches of available records for the NWMP, the 2nd CMR and Driscoll’s Scouts revealed no trace of a Donald Grant that tied in with all details. There is no Donald Grant at all in Driscoll’s Scouts let alone as a lieutenant and no Donald Grant who was formerly with the NWMP and went to SA with the 2nc CMR.
While researching in the Queensland Archives, the following was discovered on page 5151 of the Queensland Police Gazettes for January to December 1930 (QSA Ref SRS 798/1). It appears in the issue dated 1st November 1930-Ayr: Information is requested, at the instance of Dorothea Grant, care of Charlie Eade, Walker Street, Townsville, as to the whereabouts of her husband Donald Grant, with the object of inducing him to provide means of support for herself and six children. Description: 60 years of age, about 5’11” high, fair complexion, short, grey hair (bald), nose inclined to be Roman shape, stout build (inclined to be corpulent), has a sore leg, speaks with a Scotch accent, good appearance, wears glasses, an accountant, a native of Scotland, wore blue serge trousers, grey “Sports” coat, white “Sports” shirt, tan shoes and a felt hat. Left Giru on the 16th July last by train for Brisbane, supposed en route to Adelaide to board a boat conveying flour to South Africa from which country he came after the South African war.

That Dorothy gives Donald’s age as 60 in this missing person’s bulletin of 1930 indicates that he was actually born in 1870 and not 1874 as stated on his marriage certificate. That ties in with her telling family members later that he was actually older than the age they gave when they married. She also said that he left off those few extra years when he enlisted in WW1 otherwise they would not have accepted him. He was eventually invalided back to Australia anyway with lung problems. He may also have been diabetic.
Dorothy was long dead by the time we discovered these things but family remembered her saying that their father (Donald) had talked about a friend from the past who owned a mine in South Africa. Did ‘miner’ become a new occupation for him?

There are so many similarities between the two Donalds. Morayshire was formerly known as Elginshire and even if he was referring to the town of Elgin rather than the county of Elginshire, Forres and Elgin are only about 10 to 15 miles apart. The ages (allowing for the bit of manipulation of Donald’s when he married Dorothy) are similar, the length of time in, and wanderings around, Australia is about the same.

According to the 1935 marriage certificate, Donald Ogilvie’s first wife apparently died on 29th April, 1915 and it also shows that there was one deceased child of the union (despite the fact that his death document shows no issue from either marriage). This indicates that he infers that she died in childbirth which would make his marriage date sometime in 1914. The date on which Donald O claims he was widowed is so close to Dorothy’s birth date and he was supposedly married for the first time when he was 44 (1914/1915) which would tie in with Donald’s age plus those few shaved years ...but there is one more ‘cruncher’.
When the information was being filled in on the paperwork after his death, the only thing that Elizabeth could recall about Donald O’s first wife was the name ‘Kruiger’. Dorothy’s mother was a Boer (South African Dutch) woman whose family on both her father’s (Vorster) and mother’s (Joubert) side were heavily involved in the Boer side of the Anglo South African Boer War. Along one of the branches of the family, Paul Kruger had married in and all family remembers that she used to boast about being ‘related to Paul Kruger’. We heard the story time and again when we were young, that we were “distantly related to Paul Kruger’. It was so distant as to be extremely tenuous at best, but it was a bragging point for the family.

Donald Grant was obviously not averse to puffing himself up a bit and much of his background is suspect so if he and Donald Ogilvie Grant are one and the same, then Donald O couldn’t have helped himself. Although he might not have given out any other details of his ‘first ‘ marriage (probably something like - ‘she died in childbirth and I can’t bear to discuss it’)he would not have been able to help continuing the bragging about his first wife’s family being related to Paul Kruger.

On the Australian electoral rolls, Donald OGILVIE Grant appears for the first time on the 1936 rolls (the year after marrying Elizabeth) and not before, despite the fact that he apparently had been in the country for many years.
Donald Grant:
Born :about 1870 in Forres, Morayshire (formerly Elginshire) Scotland
In Australia (travelled through most states) about 38 years
Father: Hamish (James) Grant
Father’s occupation: Surgeon/physician
Mother: Jean Wilson
Married: Australia 4th July 1914
Wife’s birthday: 25/26 April
Wife’s maiden name Eade – a daughter of Maryna Johanna Vorster whose line includes (only distantly, and by marriage) Paul Kruger which was always a boasting point among family.
Proven military service: WW1 for two years ending as acting adjutant Weymouth Camp, UK – invalided home with lung problems.
Unproven military service: 5 years with NWMP, 2 years with 2nd CMR in Canada and South Africa, followed by stint with Driscoll’s Scouts in South Africa. Can find no records of any of this.
Appears to have remained in South Africa for some time after the Boer War where he apparently had an acquaintance who owned a mine.

So, in the end, what we have is:Donald Ogilvie Grant:
Born: about 1870 in Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland (abt 15 miles from Forres)
In Australia (all states) about 38 years
Father: James Ogilvie Grant
Father’s occupation: Surgeon/physician
Mother: Jean Wilson
First Married: Australia abt 1914
Claims widowed: 29th April 1915
First wife’s maiden name shown on death report as ……..Kruiger

Created on a Mac™ using iFamily for Mac™ on 2 May 2025