It's not certain where Margaret and Peter were married, there's no record as a Catholic service at St Peter's, the local church in Halifax. However there is a notice of the baptism of their first child, George in 1814. This was followed three years later by the arrival of  Mary in 1817

  Peter and Margaret had several more children including Margaret (1820), John (1821), Isabella (1824) and Duncan (1826). Unfortunately Isabella only lived for a year and died in 1825, aged 1. Tragedy came to the family in 1827, when Margaret, Peter's wife died, on the 18th February. There was an announcement in the Arcadian Recorder.   Margaret was buried in the St Peter's cemetery

Life after Margaret's death, two quick marriages

Within the year, Peter Grant married again. This would have been a pragmatic action with the number of young children. Peter's bride was a new widow, Hannah Walsh (nee Guy). She had been in the colony since at least 1822 when she had married a James Walsh from Dublin. Hannah was also a catholic and would have been seen as a suitable arrangement for them both. Peter and Hannah had a son, Peter, born on 23 September 1828.He only survived a week and died on 29 September 1828. There was no cause of death recorded on his burial record,  but it is known that the colony had high levels of infant mortality. Worse was to come, as Hannah sucumbed to illness and died in October 1828. She was aged 27. 

After Hannah's death, Peter Grant was faced with the same problem of a household of young children and no mother. He married again quickly. This time the marriage was to someone who he may have known from Scotland. Isabella (Isobel) Crosby was born in Keith, the town Peter Grant came from. She had married, in 1818, a man called John Scott. Some point before 1829, Scott died, it's not currently known whether this was in Scotland or  Canada and Isabella became a widow. In January 1829, less than three months after the death of Hannah, Peter Grant married again. It appears that Isabella was not a catholic before she married as the records for St Peter's Chapel show that she was received into the Catholic Church on the day of her wedding, the 15th January 1829.

Peter, Isabella and the family lived together in Halifax for the next few years. Peter Grant's carpentry buisness became quite successful and he would have been quite in demand in the growing town. From newspaper clippings over the course of the rest of the century, it seems that two of his sons, George and Duncan, worked with their father as his apprentices first and then in the construction of houses. One son, John took a different path as a Ship's master. Halifax was a major port in the east-coast trade, connecting Britain with ports and colonies in the Carribean. There would have been sigificant opportunities for young men to enter the maritime trade and take the ladder from cadet to master. John Grant obviously entered the trade and appear's to have had an aptitude for it. There are no records of how he started, but unfortunately there is a record of how he died as the Master of the Brigantine Flirt in 1840. His death is recorded in a diary by his friend Joseph Salter.

Developing Halifax

Peter Grant became an important figure in Halifax during this time. He seems to have been known as a trusted man and trusted carpenter. This was demonstrated in a report about the opening of the Holy Cross cemetery in 1843. 'Peter Grant superintended a number of carpenters, who  devoted the day in preparing the frame, or were engaged on other preparatory work.' This graveyard, where the community rallied around to build was also the place Peter buried his third wife, Isabella, about 4 months after the cemetary in December 1843.

From census documentation over the years, Peter Grant's residence was given as Birmingham Street in Halifax. His house is still standing and is part of a heritage area called Schmidtville. He bought a range of sub-divided land from Elizabeth Schmidt the original owner of the land. He is credited with bringing the five-sided Scottish dormer style of windows to the houses, a style also found in Keith and norther Scotland. The surviving houses built by Peter Grant and his family can be found in this inventory.  The style of the area contributed to the neighbourhood being names one of the Great Places in Canada in 2017. 

In the obituaries for George Grant and Duncan Grant indicate that their father was a well respected man in the community and a member of groups such as the North British Society - a Scottish emmigrants group. He died on the 8th December 1870 and was burried in Holy Cross cemetery, the cemetery he helped to build, next to the grave of his 3rd wife, Isabella.

Developing Halifax

Peter Grant became an important figure in Halifax during this time. He seems to have been known as a trusted man and trusted carpenter. This was demonstrated in a report about the opening of the Holy Cross cemetery in 1843. 'Peter Grant superintended a number of carpenters, who  devoted the day in preparing the frame, or were engaged on other preparatory work.' This graveyard, where the community rallied around to build was also the place Peter buried his third wife, Isabella, about 4 months after the cemetary in December 1843.

From census documentation over the years, Peter Grant's residence was given as Birmingham Street in Halifax. His house is still standing and is part of a heritage area called Schmidtville. He bought a range of sub-divided land from Elizabeth Schmidt the original owner of the land. He is credited with bringing the five-sided Scottish dormer style of windows to the houses, a style also found in Keith and norther Scotland. The surviving houses built by Peter Grant and his family can be found in this inventory.  The style of the area contributed to the neighbourhood being names one of the Great Places in Canada in 2017. 

In the obituaries for George Grant and Duncan Grant indicate that their father was a well respected man in the community and a member of groups such as the North British Society - a Scottish emmigrants group. He died on the 8th December 1870 and was burried in Holy Cross cemetery, the cemetery he helped to build, next to the grave of his 3rd wife, Isabella.

The children of Peter and Margaret Grant

As said previously, Duncan and Geogre Grant entered into partnership with their father as house builders and carpenters in the Halifax area. Even though they were well employed, they don't appear to accumulated significant wealth. Halifax and the maritime provinces suffered an economic recession after the 1870s, and it's not known whether the fortune of the Grants were impacted by this. Both George and Duncan married and stayed local to Halifax.

Their sister, Margaret, married Angus Campbell in 1838 and had 2 daughters that lived, and families in Halifax

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