Dr Lachan Grant of Ballachulish: the unintended roles of the medical practitioner in the Scottish Highlands, 1871-1945 (360G-Wellcome-095208_Z_10_Z)

This project, a collaboration between academic historians and people in the community, is intended to explore and make better known the life and significance of Dr Lachlan Grant, GP at Ballachulish for much of the first half of the twentieth century. Trained in Edinburgh, and capable (as shown by his research interests) of having had a high-level career, Grant chose to become a rural GP. At Ballachulish, as medical officer in the local slate quarries, he was a key figure in labour disputes of national significance. Later Grant, whose political contacts were extensive, campaigned for (a) healthcare improvement of the sort eventually made possible by the Highlands and Islands Medical Service and (b) the creation of a Highland development agency modelled on Roosevelt's Tennessee Valley Authority. The project will involve academics from the UHI Millennium Institute (soon to be the University of the Highlands and Islands), Glasgow Caledonian University, Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh -as well as locally active individuals drawn from Ballachulish Community Council, Lochaber Historical Society and the wider community. The project will result in a conference in Ballachulish, an exhibition, material on various websites and the publication of scholarly journal articles.