Sydney Grant joined the 26th Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant on 1st May 1878. During his military career he progressed through the ranks to become Captain in the 26th and later Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and Brevet-Colonel by 1904. He also served with the Bechuanaland (Botswana) Expedition of 1884-5.

Grant came to the attention of the South Lanarkshire Council Museum Service whilst we were researching objects to use for the exhibition At Ease! In the collection are three sketchbooks made by Grant in the late 1880s. These document the day-to-day activities of the Regiment in lively and often humourous pen-and-ink and watercolour sketches, forming a unique and invaluable record of life during that period.