The Jacobite Grandson

by T.J. Lovat

The Jacobite Grandson, sequel to Son of a Jacobite, traces the later life of Thomas Lovat and the childhood-into-adulthood of his son, Edward.

Thomas and Edward travel to Persia, so recapturing some of the profound influence that Shiite Islam had on Thomas’s identity and development. Edward joins the Royal Navy and travels on the Third Fleet to New South Wales, the first incursion by the family to the great southern lands. Two of the people he meets on board will steer much of the rest of his life, both career and personal.

While in New South Wales, he meets and interacts with some of the key figures in the British colonisation of Australia, seeing its strengths and weaknesses. He also liaises with some of the convict class and the Indigenous population, both formative experiences.

As Thomas did in the Americas, so Edward experiences tensions between his role as a British officer and his rebellious Jacobite heritage. He returns home and enters an agronomic career, one that will take him to Sweden and Ireland where he will meet his first love. Edward then returns to his home in Lancashire to take up a prestigious position on an agricultural estate where he meets his second love. He continues to be torn between class and sectarian divisions and between experiences of marital bliss and marital persistence.

Book Reviews

I have just finished reading ’The Jacobite Grandson’. What a great read. I could not put it down and so I read it over the day. It is very much in the spirit of the first book (Son of a Jacobite) and equally riveting. The characters are very clear and flawed at times but that is what makes them real. Thanks to T.J.Lovat for telling such a great story. He has done a marvellous job and I can see the next story is being pointed to at the end of the book with the two boys coming to Australia. There were some wonderful aspects of acceptance and humanity within the telling that were moving and deep.

I look forward to more books by Lovat.

by The Rev’d Dr Brian Douglas