Thomas Colley GrattanThomas Colley Grattan (1792–4 July 1864) was a novelist, poet, historian, and diplomat from Ireland. Born in Dublin, he attended law school but never practiced. He created a few novels, including The Heiress of Bruges (4 volumes, 1830), but his bigget work was Highways and Byways, an account of his Continental travels in three series totaling eight volumes. He also published a history of the Netherlands and several works about the United States. He served as British Consul in Boston, Massachusetts, and was involved in the discussions that led to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842. Grattan was the son of Colley Grattan of Clayton Lodge, County Kildare, who was a lawyer in Dublin before becoming a farmer. Grattan was a member of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy, and he was related to both the Irish politician Henry Grattan and the Duke of Wellington. Reverend Henry Bristow schooled him in Athy before sending him to Dublin to study law. He then agreed to join the Louth militia. While stationed in Waterford in 1810, he met actor Edmund Kean after seeing a production of Hamlet. Grattan composed a play for him years later when they became friends. Read More Read Less