GENEALOGY
 | Finding that elusive Ancestor |
Everyone is doing it. Even if you are not, chances are that one of your parents, siblings or other relatives is digging into your past in search of that elusive ancestor who will add a touch of class, fame or notoriety to the family tree. Actor Mel Gibson, who portrayed Sir William Wallace in the blockbuster Hollywood movie "Braveheart", has discovered that he may have Wallace ancestors. Every family has its share of stories although it is doubtful that you are descended through the male line from Sir Simon Fraser, another Patriot who also was hanged, disembowelled and beheaded in 1306, leaving two daughters.
If my foregoing comments sound familiar, it is because they were copied "word for word" from this web site - which, I suppose, is a subtle form of flattery! For a selection of articles by Marie Fraser, previously published in the Clan Fraser Society of Canada quarterly newsletter Canadian Explorer - see http://www.electricscotland.com/canada/fraser/index.htm
History and genealogy are the main interests of our members. As you have no doubt discovered, the history of the Frasers is rather complicated. Some writers have added to the confusion by trying to define differences between the Lowland and Highland lines, which originated from the same family that first settled in East Lothian, Scotland. Lady Saltoun's great grandfather, the 17th Lord Saltoun who wrote a very scholarly and well researched history of the Frasers of Philorth about 120 years ago, noted that apart from his brothers and his children, his nearest Fraser relations were the Lovats.
A common family tradition among descendants of those who left Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is based on the misconception that the term Lovat Fraser implies a blood relationship to the Lovat family. If the emigrant ancestor was from the Inverness area, living under the protection of a Lovat chief, he would have been regarded as a Lovat Fraser. Some claim descent from a James Fraser, Lord Lovat, who never existed, or from Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, executed in 1747, whose line ended with the death of his youngest son Archibald in 1815, without legitimate surviving issue. There was no Lord Lovat from 1747, when the title was attained, until 1857 when Thomas Alexander Fraser 10th laird of Strichen became 14th Lord Lovat.
Some have spent many years recording hundreds of descendants of their first known ancestors to Canada. Unfortunately, in many cases, finding that link to Scotland is difficult as very few of them left records of where they came from, and they were too preoccupied with building a new life for themselves and their families to leave any useful clues. We have assisted members with their genealogical research, including descendants of 78th Fraser Highlanders who settled in Quebec after the Regiment was disbanded in 1763, and families of the Hector in 1773 and other later arrivals in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario.
In The Surnames of Scotland [1943] George Fraser Black
[1866-1948] notes: "Surnames in the Highlands are of comparatively late date. In
charters and other documents even as late as the first quarter of the 18th century we have
examples wherein a man is designated by his father’s and sometimes by his
father’s and grandfather’s names [John McUnlay keaneir for John Mac Fhionnlaidh
mhic Iomhair, i.e. John son of Finlay son of Iver]."
Neil’s great grandfather Alexander Fraser [1785-1861] married Catherine Gordon [1794-1859], a daughter of Alexander Gordon and Katherine Johnston. They left Fochabers, Morayshire in 1832 with their seven children because the great flood of 1829, which had wiped out the Spey River bridge, had also destroyed the mill where Alexander was a millwright. The family lived for a while with Catherine's brother John Gordon at Lachute before settling in Grenville, Quebec where two more sons were born.
James and Mary Fraser of Breadalbane, Ontario
Alexander's eldest son James [1817-1896] moved across the river to Breadalbane,
Ontario after marrying Mary Anderson, a daughter of Alexander Anderson and Isabella
Mitchell [widow of Capt. John Rodgers]. Isabella’s father was supposed to have been
the last king of Cork, who was murdered, along with her first husband, in the Irish
Rebellion of 1798. [More likely, her father was a laird or landowner.]
Isabella escaped with her two young sons, who were later lost at sea en route to
Australia. She emigrated to Canada, settling in Hawkesbury, Ontario where she married
Alexander Anderson. James Fraser and Mary Anderson had ten children and their branch of
the family has produced 13 doctors including a Dean of Medicine at McGill University in
Montreal and doctors in residence at Lakefield College School near Peterborough.
Alexander's youngest son Gordon [1836-1911] married Sarah Anne Stackhouse
[1840-1929], a daughter of John Stackhouse and Marie Esther Dorion of St. Andrew's East,
Quebec. Gordon was a saddle maker who moved from Hawkesbury to Stratford where he
found a surplus of saddle makers. Having a fine array of tools he decided to try his
hand at dentistry, until the introduction of licensing, when he was forced to relocate to
Bad Axe, Michigan where he continued his practice. Gordon and Sarah had two sons and
three daughters. The older son Charles Gordon, a teacher in Toronto, became a
Vice Principal under Alexander Muir, who wrote The Maple Leaf Forever.
Charles later became Principal of Manning Avenue School, now called the Charles Gordon
Fraser Junior School. The younger son George Alexander qualified as a dentist,
practicing in Parkhill.
Gordon with his son George A. and grandson William G. Fraser
Alexander’s eldest daughter Mary [1819-57] married David Gill of Lisburn,
Co. Down, Ireland. Catherine [1822-1902] married Samuel Stewart of Arundel, Quebec. We
have a photo of Catherine in her 80s, smoking a clay pipe. Beatrice [1821-87], Isabella
[1825-1902] and Alexander [1827-1908] remained on the family farm, unmarried. The elusive
one is George [6 Aug 1834-?] who, according to family lore, joined the Union forces in the
U.S. Civil War, and was killed in action. Annie May [1885-1967], one of Neil’s
spinster aunts and the family historian, did not search enthusiastically for him. [It is a
bit suspicious that no trace was found of Aunt Annie’s research when she died in
Winnipeg.]
Mary and John Fraser of Grenville, Quebec, 1900
So, every family has its share of unique characters, as illustrated by the
subsequent generations descended from John Fraser above, through his son James
[1882-1938], grandson Neil [b. 1932], great-grandson Ian [b. 1967] and great-great
grandson Liam [b. 1998], notwithstanding the significant contribution of their female
ancestors.
son James H.; grandson W. Neil; great grandson Ian R.; and great-great grandson Liam M. Fraser
All you need is patience, and a mixture of diplomacy and ingenuity, in dealing with reluctant members of your extended family, to capture and record their stories for the next generation of family historians. You may also learn which of your ancestors deserves the credit or blame for producing such a multi-talented and fascinating person!
Although CFS of Canada does not have the resources to do ancestral research, we will be pleased to check your family records against our computer database to see if a connection can be found in Canada or Scotland. Members are encouraged to send in copies of their family trees for inclusion in our database. We have over 60,000 names on file including some 81 branches descended from the early Fraser families in Scotland in 1200. We also have extensive records on early settlers in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario, as well as family trees from members across Canada.
Tracing your ancestors is very time consuming if you are going to do it
yourself, but very rewarding, and you can find several helpful books on the subject in
your local reference library. You can also employ a professional researcher and
there are a number of organizations offering to do ancestral research for a price.
© Marie Fraser, Clan Fraser Society of Canada,
1998-2008. All rights
reserved. Copying, transmitting, or storing protected material by any means is
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