At this point, where the ancestry of the Frasers of Philorth and the Frasers of Lovat divides, it is necessary to stress that the deductions so far have been a little uncertain, owing to the destruction of so many charters during the wars of independence. Another warning must be added. Readers cross-referencing to other records should be aware that many early writers, not understanding the difference between the feudal title “Lord of Lovat” and the peerage title “Lord Fraser of Lovat” (or “Lord Lovat” as it is commonly used since the creation of the new title of Baron Lovat of Lovat), have muddled their numbering of the Lovat succession. Further uncertainty has been created by the forfeit and subsequent restoration of the honors, and by the creation in the nineteenth century of that additional United Kingdom peerage title of Baron Lovat of Lovat. (All editions of Burke’s Peerage up to and including 1970 have the Lovat entry hopelessly confused.)
The Gaelic name for the Chief of the Frasers of Lovat, MacShimi (written sometimes as Mac Simi or MacShimidh) means son of Simon, and this Simon is believed to be the Sir Simon Fraser of Brotherton who married the eventual heiress of the Lovat lands previously held by Sir David Grahame of Lovat, and earlier by the Byssets. The Beaufort lands of the Byssets were reunited with the Lovat lands when their eventual heiress, Janet de Fenton, married into the Frasers in 1425.
Sir Simon Fraser of Brotherton, Sheriff of Kincardine, was, as shown above, the third son of Andrew Fraser, Sheriff of Stirling. He married Margaret, the daughter of John, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, whose wife may have been the daughter and certainly was the eventual heiress of Sir David Grahame, Lord of Lovat, and through Margaret he became the first of the Fraser Lords of Lovat and acquired extensive lands around Loch Ness. (To avoid confusion in numbering, it is important to note that this is a feudal title, not a peerage title.) With his brothers Andrew and James he was killed at the battle of Halidon Hill, having had with other issue Sir Simon Fraser, Lord of Lovat, who was reported by Froissart as having been in the group that captured Edinburgh Castle in 1341 by stratagem, who fought also at the battle of Durham and died unmarried of his wounds in 1346, and Sir Alexander, Lord of Lovat, who married a daughter of Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell.
The only known child of this marriage was Hugh Fraser, Lord of Lovat, Baron of Kynnell and of Linton, who in 1377, together with the feudal barony of Linton, resigned the last of his lands in Tweeddale and broke the long connection between his highland Frasers and the lowland Frasers along the Tweed. He married Isobel, daughter of Sir John Wemyss of Leuchars by his second wife, Isabel, the daughter of Sir Alan Erskine of Inch-martin, and he died ca. 1409, having had with other issue his heir Hugh Fraser, Lord of Lovat.
Hugh Fraser, Lord of Lovat, High Sheriff of Inverness-shire, was born ca. 1376, and married in 1425 as his first wife Janet (who died before December 1429), the sister of William de Fenton of Beaufort. (This is the marriage, mentioned earlier, that brought to the Frasers the other Bysset lands they had not received from the Grahame Lords of Lovat.) Hugh married as his second wife Isobel, the daughter of Sir John Wemyss of Wemyss and died before July 1440 having had issue by his first wife: Thomas Fraser of Lovat and Hugh Sanctus, his eventual heir.
Hugh Sanctus Fraser, Lord of Lovat, was born in 1417 and married Janet, the daughter of Thomas Dunbar, 2nd Dunbar Earl of Moray. He died ca. 1450, leaving issue Hugh Fraser, Lord of Lovat, who was created before 1464 Lord Fraser of Lovat in the Peerage of Scotland, and in 1464 married Violet, the daughter of John Lyon, 3rd Lord Glamis by Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John Scrimgeour of Dudhope. Hugh Sanctus Fraser, 1st Lord Fraser of Lovat, died ca. 1500, leaving issue:
A1 Thomas, his heir (see below)
A2 Hugh Fraser, killed 1513 at the battle of Flodden
A3 John Fraser, Rector of Dingwall, a member of the King’s Council
a1. Margaret Fraser of Lovat, who married Hector de Kilmalew
a2. Agnes Fraser of Lovat, who married Sir Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail
a3. Egidia (sometimes known as Marjory) Fraser of Lovat, who married Ferquherd Mackintosh of Mackintosh
Thomas Fraser, 2nd Lord Fraser of Lovat, Justiciary of the North, was born ca. 1461, and married in 1493 as his first wife Janet, the daughter of Sir Alexander Gordon of Abergeldie by Beatrice, the daughter of Sir William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll, and had issue:
A1 Hugh, his heir (see p. 214)
A2 William Fraser of Teachers
A3 James Fraser of Foyness, who was killed at the battle of Loch Lochy, and was ancestor of the Frasers of Culbokie
a1. Margaret Fraser of Lovat
a2. Isobel Fraser of Lovat
a3. Janet Fraser of Lovat, who married ca. 1527 John Crichton of Ruthven, son of James Crichton of Ruthven by his wife, Janet Ogston. Thomas Fraser, 2nd Lord Fraser of Lovat married 1506 as his second wife, Janet (who married thirdly, as his first wife, David Lindsay of Edzell, later 9th Earl of Crawford), the widow of Alexander Blair of Balthayock and the daughter of Andrew, 2nd Lord Gray, and died 21 October 1524, having by her had further issue:
A4 Robert Fraser, who married Janet Gelly and was the ancestor of the Frasers of Kinnell
A5 Andrew Fraser, reported to have married a daughter of the Laird of Grant, but nothing else is known of him
A6 Thomas Fraser, reported to have married Anna, a daughter of Macleod of Harris
Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Fraser of Lovat, Justiciary of the North for Queen Mary, was born in 1494. He married as his first wife Anne, widow of John Haliburton of Pitcur and the daughter of John Grant of Grant and Freuchie by Margaret, the daughter of Sir James Ogilvy of Deskford, and had issue:
A1 Hugh, Master of Lovat, killed with his father at Loch Lochy in 1544 without offspring, after his stepmother, Janet Ross of Balnagowan, had taunted him to make him disobey his father’s orders and join the battle (and thus to allow her own son to inherit if he died).
Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Fraser of Lovat married secondly Janet, the daughter of Walter Ross of Balnagowan, and with his eldest son was killed fighting the Macdonalds at Loch Lochy on 15 July 1544, having by her had issue:
A2 Alexander, his heir, the beneficiary of his wife’s treachery (see below)
A3 William Fraser of Struy, born 1537, married to Janet, a daughter of the Laird of Grant
A4 Hugh Fraser, born circa 1539
a1. Agnes Fraser of Lovat, married before 3 March 1541 as her first husband, William Macleod of Macleod, 9th Chief of Macleod, and married as her second husband, Alexander Bayne of Tulloch.
a2. Margaret Fraser of Lovat
Alexander Fraser, 4th Lord Fraser of Lovat, married Janet (who married secondly Donald McDonald of Sleat) the daughter of Sir John Campbell of Cawdor, third son of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll, and died at Iona in December 1557, having had issue:
A1 Hugh (see below)
A2 Thomas Fraser of Knockie and 1st of Strichen, whose descendants eventually succeeded to the Lovat titles
A3 James Fraser of Ardachy married and had issue:
a1. Anne Fraser of Lovat married John Fraser of Dalcross.
Hugh Uisdean Ruadh Fraser, 5th Lord Fraser of Lovat, married on 24 December 1567 to Elizabeth (who married secondly 1578 Robert Stuart [previously Bishop of Caithness], Earl of Lennox and subsequently Earl of March [but divorced him for impotency], and married thirdly in 1581, James Stewart, Earl of Arran) the daughter of John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl by his wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, and died 1 January 1577, leaving issue:
A1 Alexander Fraser, Master of Lovat, who died in infancy
A2 Simon, his heir (see below)
A3 Thomas Fraser, Prior of Beauly, died age 8
a1. Elizabeth Fraser of Lovat married Alexander Dunbar of Westfield, Sheriff of Moray
a2. Margaret Fraser of Lovat
a3. Mary Fraser of Lovat, married James Cumming of Altyre
a4. Anna Fraser of Lovat, married Hector Munro of Foulis
Simon Fraser, 6th Lord Fraser of Lovat,
Sheriff of Inverness, born ca. 1569, married 1589 as his first wife, Katherine, the daughter of Sir Colin Mackenzie of Kintail by Barbara, the daughter of John Grant of Grant and Freuchie, and had issue:
A1 Simon Fraser, the younger of Lovat, who died young
A2 Hugh, his heir (see below)
a1. Elizabeth Fraser of Lovat, born 1591, married John Dunbar, Sheriff of Morayshire
Simon Fraser, 6th Lord Fraser of Lovat, married 1596 as his second wife Jean, the daughter of James Stewart, 1st Lord Doune, by Margaret, the daughter of Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll, and by her had further issue:
A3 Simon Fraser of Inverallochy
A4 Thomas Fraser, who died without issue 1613
A5 Sir James Fraser of Brea, born 1610, married Beatrice Wemyss, and died 6 December 1649 having had issue:
A6 Thomas Fraser, born 1606, died 20 May 1613
A7 James Fraser, baptised 4 June 1612
a2. Anne Fraser of Lovat, died age 8
a3. Margaret Fraser of Lovat, married first as his second wife Sir Robert Arbuthnot of that Ilk, and married 2nd Sir James Haldane of Gleneagles
a4. Jean Fraser of Lovat, died young
Simon Fraser, 6th Lord Fraser of Lovat, married March 1628 as his third wife Catherine, widow of James Grant of Logie and the daughter of William Rose, 11th of Kilravock, by Lilias the daughter of Alexander Hay, 8th of Delgaty, and died 19 September 1658.
Hugh Fraser, 7th Lord Fraser of Lovat, born 1592, married 1614 Isabel, the daughter of Sir John Wemyss of Wemyss by his second wife, Mary, the daughter of James Stewart, 1st Lord Doune, and died 16 February 1646, having had issue:
A1 Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat, born 1621, died unmarried 1640
A2 Hugh, father of Hugh, the heir to the 7th Lord (see p. 219)
A3 Alexander Fraser, took and retained title of Master of Lovat after his brother Hugh’s death, born 1626, married Sybilla Mackenzie, widow of Ian Mor Macleod, 16th Chief of Macleod and the daughter of Kenneth, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kin-tail, and died 27 June 1671, leaving one daughter
A4 Thomas Fraser of Beaufort, de jure 10th Lord Fraser of Lovat (see p. 220)
A5 James Fraser, born 1633, killed in the service of the King of Poland 1657
A6 William Fraser, born 1635, died age 4
a1. Mary Fraser of Lovat, born 1617, married 1635 David Ross of Balnagowan, and died 1659
a2. Anne Fraser of Lovat, born 1619, married 1639 John Gordon, 14th Earl of Sutherland, and died at Dunrobin 23 July 1658
a3. Katherine Fraser of Lovat, born 1622, married as her first husband Sir John Sinclair of Dunbeath, married as her second husband Robert Arbuthnott, 1st Viscount Arbuthnott, and married as her 3rd husband Andrew Fraser, 3rd Lord Fraser (who died 22 May 1674), and died 18 October 1663
a4. Isobel Fraser of Lovat, who died young
Hugh Fraser, Master of Lovat, married Anne, the daughter of Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, and died 1643 in his father’s lifetime, leaving issue:
A1 Hugh, heir to his grandfather (see below)
a1. Anne Fraser of Lovat
Hugh Fraser, 8th Lord Fraser of Lovat, was born 2 May 1643, married July 1659 to Anne, the daughter of Sir John Mackenzie of Tarbat, Baronet, and succeeded his grandfather 1646. He died 27 April 1672, having had issue:
A1 Hugh, his heir (see below)
a1. Anne Fraser of Lovat, was born 12 March 1661, married Patrick, 2nd Lord Kinnaird, and died 1684
a2. Isabel Fraser of Lovat, born 1662, married Alexander Mackenzie of Glengarry
a3. Margaret Fraser of Lovat, born 1666, married Colonel Andrew Monro
Hugh Fraser, 9th Lord Fraser of Lovat, born 28 September 1666, married Amelia, the daughter of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, by Amelia Sophia, the daughter of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, and died 14 September 1696, having settled his estates, 20 March 1696, on his cousin and heir male, Thomas Fraser of Beaufort (fourth son of Hugh, 7th Lord), and having had issue:
A1 Hugh Fraser, Master of Lovat, born 1690, died 16 March 1693
A2 John Fraser, Master of Lovat, born 1695, died 10 August 1696
a1. Amelia Fraser of Lovat, assumed the title of Lady Lovat at her father’s death and was supported in this by the judgment of the Court of Session 2 December 1702 against her cousin Simon Fraser, the heir male. She married 1702 Alexander Mackenzie of Prestonhall (a Lord of Session as Lord Prestonhall) who adopted the name and designation of Fraser of Fraserdale and died 3 June 1755, age 72. She continued to possess the estates until the Rising of 1715, when her husband was attainted and his life-rent interest in the estate forfeited. In 1730 she was deprived of her peerage title of Lady Fraser of Lovat by a decree of reduction in the Court of Session brought at the instance of the heir male. Her right to the reversion of the estates was not judicially tried but she settled for a money payment. She died 22 August 1763, having had issue:
B1 Hugh Fraser, younger of Lovat, died 9 November 1770
b1. Amelia Fraser of Lovat, died 22 August 1763
a2. Anne Fraser of Lovat, born 1689, married September 1703 as her first husband Norman Macleod of Macleod, 20th Chief, and as her second husband Peter Fothringham of Powrie, and as her third husband John Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Cromarty, and died 10 August 1734
a3. Katherine Fraser of Lovat, married 25 July 1706, Sir William Murray of Ochtertyre, Baronet, and died 4 March 1771
a4. Margaret Fraser, died unmarried
The cousin and heir male, fourth son of Hugh Fraser, 7th Lord Fraser of Lovat, Thomas Fraser of Beaufort, de jure 10th Lord Fraser of Lovat, married Sibylla, the fourth daughter of Ian Mor Macleod of Macleod, 16th Chief of Macleod. He and his son Simon abducted Amelia, the Dowager Lady Fraser of Lovat, in 1698 and were found guilty of high treason. He died May 1699 having had issue:
A1 Alexander Fraser, Master of Lovat, born ca. 1666 and died unmarried in the lifetime of his father 20 November 1689
A2 Simon, his heir (see below)
A3 Hugh Fraser
A4 John Fraser, was born 1674 and entered the Dutch service as “Le Chevalier Fraser.” He died unmarried in 1716.
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Fraser of Lovat, was famous for his adventurous career. Soon after the death of Hugh, 9th Lord, he induced Hugh’s eldest daughter, Amelia, to elope with him. When she returned to her mother, he seized her estates, and for this and other acts of violence he was tried in his absence in 1698, sentenced to death, and attainted. He then forced himself on the widow of the 9th Lord, Amelia the daughter of the Marquess of Atholl, and compelled her to marry him. For this he was tried and outlawed in 1701. In 1715 he supported the Government, and was rewarded with a remission under the Great Seal, and a gift of Fraser of Fraserdale’s forfeited life-rent of the Lovat estates. He endeavored to assert his right to the dignity of Lord Fraser of Lovat at elections of Representative Peers in 1721, 1722, and 1727, but objections were made to his vote. In 1729 he brought a reduction before the Court of Session of the decree of 1702, giving the heir female the title, and in virtue of a decree in his favor in 1730, became Lord Fraser of Lovat. He supported the Rising of 1745, was impeached by the House of Lords, and executed on Tower Hill, 9 April 1747. He married as his first wife (discounting the forced ceremony with the Dowager) Margaret, the daughter of Ludovic Grant of Grant, and had with other issue who died unmarried:
A1 Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat (who would, but for the attainder, have become 12th Lord Fraser of Lovat), joined his father in the Rising of 1745, was pardoned 1750, and fought in Portugal and the American war. He was Member of Parliament for Inverness from 1761 until his death. His fathers forfeited lands were granted him in 1774, and he died without issue on 8 February 1782.
A2 Alexander (Alistair) Fraser, baptised 1 July 1729, died unmarried 7 August 1762
a1. Janet Fraser of Lovat married Ewan Macpherson of Cluny, and died 14 April 1765
a2. Sybilla Fraser of Lovat, died unmarried 9 February 1755
Simon, 11th Lord Fraser of Lovat, married 1733 as his s
econd wife, Primrose, the daughter of John Campbell of Mamore, son of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, and had issue a third son:
A3 Archibald Campbell Fraser (who would, but for the attainder, have become 13th Lord Fraser of Lovat), Consul-General at Algiers, member of Parliament for Inverness 1782, married 1763 to Jane, the daughter of William Fraser of Ledeclune, and had issue five sons who all died unmarried in the lifetime of their father.
On the death of Archibald Campbell Fraser on 8 December 1815, the representation of the family in the male line passed to Thomas Alexander Fraser 10th of Strichen, (but for the attainder, 14th Lord Fraser of Lovat), descended, as shown above, from Thomas, second son of Alexander Fraser, 4th Lord Fraser of Lovat.
The descent of the Fraser of Lovat chiefship after the attainder and execution of the 11th Lord would have been different if Brian Fraser, his bastard son by Davina Porter, had been legitimated. He made a good marriage to Ellen, the eldest daughter of Jacob Mackenzie of Leoch, and if his father had enjoyed better relations with Edinburgh the legitimation could have been passed under the Great Seal. The lives of Jamie and his brother William might then have been quite different. Brian Fraser matriculated his father’s arms as a bastard, and bore them differenced by a bordure compony Or and Gules. James intended to matriculate as Brian’s heir, but the political troubles of the time never allowed him time to complete the petition. The arms he bore in his father’s lifetime and those he would have borne later are illustrated on page 215.
Note: There is still some contention among historians as to the exact details of the succession in the 14th and early 15th centuries, some of the early accounts still in circulation having errors unrecognized until the 19th century. The line indicated here is the most probable.
MACKENZIE OF LEOCH
The Outlandish Companion Page 30
