Banffshire in the North-east of Scotland is an agricultural place. In the turn of the 19th century much of the land was owned by feudal landlords like the Earl of Fife and tenanted by farmers and increasingly displaced highlanders, cleared off their ancestral lands. Two parishes in this area were the towns of Keith and Grange. Keith was a town of around 3,000 people in 1798, largely of the Presbyterian faith with 125 or so Catholics. Grange was less of a town than Keith, the centre point for a number of rural farms.

Two families that the Clara McDonald was descended from came from this region. Clara McDonald’s maternal great-grandparents Peter Grand and Margaret Taylor came from this part of Scotland.

Not much is currently known about the Taylor family. From memorials and historical records they seem to have been tenant farmers in the district going back to at least 1700s. 

The other family, Clara McDonald was descended from in this line were the Grants. Clan Grant was an important family in the area. The Grants were supporters of William Wallace and then Robert the Bruce in the wars of Scottish independence in the 14th century. After securing Scotland’s freedom from England, Robert the Bruce confirmed the Grants as Lairds of Strathspey. Over the next two hundred years, the Grants supported both the Jacobites and the English/British crown in various wars and skirmishes. 

The main centre for the Grants were the lands across Moray and  Banffshire . The earliest confirmed ancestors in this line were Duncan Grant and Jean Desson who were married On 16th September 1780 at Keith Parish Church.