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Alexander Fraser of Lovat
The historical Scottish Alexander
Fraser of Beaufort was of the House of Lovat, the Fraser clan prominent
around Loch Ness. He was born around 1663 and was educated at Kings College,
Aberdeen from 1678 to 1683. In 1689 he led a branch of the Fraser clan in
the Jocobite’s campaign against the King’s force.
In 1692, Alexander attended a ball where a
bagpiper antagonised him by playing the tune “ The biotag air Mac Thomas”
which was disparaging to the Fraser clan. In a fit of anger Alexander
stabbed and killed the piper. Because of this incident and his position as a
Jocobite leader, Alexander decided to flee his homeland.
Some controversy exists over these dates as according to some reports
Alexander was killed at the Battle of Claverhouse in November 1689 and was
buried at Kirkall. Other reports suggest that the burial record was a cover
for his flee from Scotland after killing the piper a few years later.
Alexander Fraser was said to have been given sanctuary and employment by the
Marquis of Powys. Over the following year’s Fraser became knowledgeable in
his Lordship’s mineral interests and became a prospector in both north and
south Wales.
The Welsh Alexander Fraser is first recorded as working in the mines of
Penrhyn Du in 1733 He married in south Wales in 1738. If this was the same
Alexander Fraser as that born around 1663 he would have been 75 years old.
In 1761 the Welsh Fraser persuaded Sir Nicholas Bayly to start to prospect
for copper at Parys Mountain. In 1762 with the assistance of Jonathon Roose
and Roland Puw a large quantity of ore was found near Cerrig y bleddia This
eventually lead to the development of the Mona and Parys mines. At this time
Fraser was said to be almost illiterate and it is difficult to reconcile
this with the years that the Scottish Fraser is known to have spent at
Aberdeen University.
Fraser was employed at the mines until his death in 1776. (Aged 113 ?!) His
sons continued to work at the mines.
The advanced age of marriage and death suggest the possibility that two
different Alexander Fraser were somehow involved in this tale.
From the time that copper was discovered until his death Fraser remained in
hiding in Anglesey. He did not pursue any claim to his father’s estates, as
he was still wanted for murder in Scotland. Although it is said that local
people new of his background and often referred to him as Lord Lovat or Lord
Fraser.
In 1761 a letter from William Morris and another from Robert Griffiths in
1800 referred to him as Lord Lovat. It was recorded by the Reverend Owen
Jones that he first visited Amlwch in 1830 and was told of “ a strange old
gentleman working in the mines that everyone said was a nobleman in disguise
and a fugitive from justice. There was something superior in his behaviour
and he would never enter a miner’s hut without taking off his hat”
Elizabeth Roberts was born in 1788 and in 1884 she recalled seeing John
Fraser as a superintendent in the iron pools. She always knew him as Lord
Lovat.
Even the Managers of the mine gave due regard to the Welsh Fraser. Thomas
Williams the mine manager is said to have shown respect when some buildings
in which Fraser was living were not destroyed during mine development. It
was also recorded that John Sanderson the Marquis accountant and general
manager agent used the title “My Lord Fraser” and showed the man due
respect. As did the chief mine captain James Treweek. This respect was based
on the attitude of the marquis’s family itself. From the first records in
1733 to the court case in the House of Lord in 1885 they supported the Welsh
Fraser’s claims.
The Welsh Fraser had four sons. His eldest, called John went to Inverness in
1812 to try and progress his claim. The same claim was pursued by successive
generations until in 1885 John Fraser (IV) had his case turned down in the
House of Lords.
The House of Lord found it is difficult to reconcile the dates of birth and
deaths with the same man. One likely possibility is the Welsh Fraser’s may
have been descended from a, possible illegitimate son, of the original
Alexander Fraser of Lovat.
More on Fraser
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