Allan Ramsay 1713-1784

The sitter was the second son of Colonel William Grant of Ballindaloch and his wife Anne, daughter of Ludovic Grant of Grant. After leaving Edinburgh University he abandoned the law in favour of the army and took a commission in his brother's regiment commanded by James St Clair. He served in Flanders and fought at the battle of Fontenoy, and then together with Sir Harry Erskine and David Hume he served with St. Clair in the L'Orient expedition and as St. Clair's aid-de-camp on his diplomatic mission at Vienna and Turin in 1748.

In 1752 he went abroad as tutor to William 7th Earl of Sutherland. he then rejoined his regiment and in 1757 set off to South Carolina with a new Highland regiment. He served in several actions both in America and in Havana, and in 1763 was made Govenor of East Florida where he made a reputation as an able and autocratic administrator who took care to keep good relations with the Indians. In 1771 he returned to England, having in 1770 become Laird of Ballindalloch. From 1773 to 1780 he served as M.P. for Tain Burghs, but politics did not interest him and in 1775 he returned to America as brigadier, distinguishing himself at the capture of New York, and spending the next two years on active service in New Jersey. In 1778 he commanded the forces in the capture of St. Lucia. From 1787 to 1802 he was M.P. for Sutherlandshire, continuing in parliament until the age of 82. He was known as a bon viveur and travelled north with his black cook and a large retinue to his Scottish estates, where he spent large sums on agricultural improvements and the building of roads and bridges.