William Grant (general) - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

William Grant was born on 30 September 1870 in Stawell, Victoria, the son of a miner. He was educated at Brighton Grammar School and Ormond College at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE) in 1893. He worked in railway construction in New South Wales but after his father's death in 1894 he became a pastoralist, purchasing Bowenville Station on the Darling Downs in Queensland in 1896.

Grant was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Queensland Mounted Infantry on 1 January 1901. He advanced rapidly and became commander of the 14th Light Horse in 1910, and was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel on 18 December 1911. He was still in command when World War I broke out.

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