Global travel
The British Empire Through the World Exhibited in One View c.1872. J. Bartholomew. Courtesy of The Library of Congress.
With the expansion of the British Empire and the rapid improvements in travel by carriage, rail and ship in the nineteenth century, the men and women of the family visited numerous countries.
While trips for pleasure were mainly limited to Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, those in military service were posted to Canada, the Crimea, India, St. Helena and China. Two brothers, Charles and Alan, served under the Rajah of Sarawak and Charles was sent to Washington, D.C. to meet the President of the United States. He, along with the Rajah Mudah of Sarawak and their respective wives, travelled overland en route to Sarawak.
Unusually for an unmarried woman, Mary travelled to Boston and New York to seek commissions for sculptures and with the thought that she might open a studio. She studied in Paris and, possibly, in Florence.
This contemporary map shows some of the routes taken by the Grants.