GRANT, James 8th Baronet of that Ilk, the Good Sir James, Sir ²

   Other names for James were GRANT, James Founder of Grantown, Sir ³ and GRANT, James, Baronet.³

  General Notes:

"In 1766 he founded the town of Grantown, usually called the capital of Strathspey. The original site of the village was a barren moor; and before 1792, he had expended £5000 sterling in promoting the extension and welfare of Grantown. Efforts had been made to introduce trade and manufactures into the place. A linen manufactory had been started, and wool-combing and stocking-making. He erected a Town House, made roads, built a stone bridge, and introduced a supply of water into the town. He also drew up a series of regulations for the inhabitants of Grantown, touching proper cleansing, fencing of the different holdings, repair of broken windows, and likewise rules against immorality, which was to be punished by fines. In 1792 the population of the village was upwards of 300."

from Electric Scotland

Note: The founding year by general agreement seems to have been 1765, not 1766. ⁴

  Research Notes:

GRANTOWN

"Grantown-on-Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Ùr nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland Council Area, historically within the county of Moray. It was founded in 1765 as a planned settlement on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, about 20 miles south east of Inverness (35 miles by road).

Originally called simply "Grantown" after Sir James Grant, "on Spey" was added by the burgh council in 1898."

from Wikipedia ⁵

James married Jean DUFF, daughter of Alexander DUFF 2nd of Hatton and Anne DUFF, in 1763.¹ (Jean DUFF was born in 1746 ² and died on 15 February 1805 ².)