How Granby Was (or Wasn't) Named

How did Granby get its name? The truth of the matter is, no one knows. Not Carol Laun the Archivist/Curator of the Salmon Brook Historical Society. Not even Mark Williams who wrote the book, “A Tempest in a Small Town," the definitive history of the town of Granby. There have been many theories over the years. Let's review some of them.

The most common one is that we were named after General John Manners, Marquess of Granby; 1721 – 1770, a British soldier who was the eldest son of the 3rd Duke of Rutland. Because he pre-deceased his father, he was known by his father's subsidiary title, Marquess of Granby. During his lifetime, in England, he was very famous as a hero of the Seven Years’ War which trickled over into the Americas and was known as the French and Indian War.

During the conflict, Manners was sent to Germany in command of a cavalry brigade. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1759; later that year he fought at the Battle of Minden as commander of the second line of cavalry. He went on to lead the troops to victory at the Battle of Warburg in 1760 and the Battle of Villinghausen in 1761. Although greatly admired at home, and with a great political career before him, he died suddenly at the young age of 49.

He is probably best know today for having more British pubs named after him than any other person. This was due, it is said, to his practice of setting up old soldiers of his regiment as publicans when they were too old to serve any longer.

Because of the nature of this individual and his affiliation with the British Crown, Archivist/Curator Carol Laun doubts that in 1786, the local good folks would have chosen an English Duke to name their town after. However, the towns of both Granby, Mass. and Vermont claim to have been named after him. According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia even Granby, Quebec, claims General Manners as their namesake. With Canada being a British colony, this seems less intriguing.

Granby, Vt. is located in its Northeast Kingdom. At the time of the 2010 census, this small, sleepy village had a population of only 82, making it the least populated incorporated town in Vermont. Although this little lumbering town was founded in 1761, it did not get electrical service until 1963! No connection between the Vermont and Connecticut towns of Granby can be established.

Similarly, since our town's incorporation was after the nearby Granby, Mass. (founded in 1768), some theorize that the name may have been transferred to Connecticut, but no relationship between the two towns has ever been found.

The Granby in Quebec, Canada, was settled at the end of the 18th century by three brothers named Frost, becoming an incorporated municipality in 1816 and a city in 1971. No one seems to know why it was named after John Manners instead of the Frosts.

There is a Granby in New York, first settled around 1792, which was created in 1818 from the Town of Hannibal. No mention of the town’s namesake could be found in their historical records.

The only other community named Granby is in Colorado. This town, founded in 1904 along the route of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway, was incorporated one year later. It was named after Granby Hillyer, a Denver lawyer who later served as the United States Attorney for that city's district. What is curious is the last name of Granby, Colo.'s namesake, Hillyer.

The Hillyers or Hilliers go back in our Granby as early as the 1630s, and were among our community's founders. It appears that Granby Hillyer was named for his father, Shaller Granby Hillyer's birthplace... you see he was born in Granby, Conn. ... in 1809!

So the reader is left to speculate how Granby was named. While our local used the duke's name, it remains a mystery how the 1786 founders arrived at the official Town of Granby, Connecticut, name.