Beaton's family, who likely belonged to the minor gentry or to a professional class, lived in Glen Urquhart on the north side of Loch Ness. Patrick Beaton may have spent much time from home, perhaps at boarding school in England, although he certainly was at school for a period in Inverness. He completed over four years on the Isle of Skye in his first post after leaving school, though what this job was is not apparent. In 1824, in his early twenties, he travelled on the brig "Idris" to La Guaira in Venezuela, which was then a department of Colombia and this diary recounts his passage beginning in Liverpool.
From the description of The diary of Patrick Grant Beaton, Scottish traveller, Nov. 16, 1824-Jan. 1, 1826. 1824- 1826. (University of Guelph). WorldCat record id: 625926464
