Baillie William Fraser
According to the Inverness-Kirk Session Records,
Baillie William Fraser was elected an Elder on July 25, 1721: -
"to prevent the profaneing of the Lord’s Day. It’s
hereby recommended to the Elders to take Notice of their own Bounds on
that day that there be no open abuses or Idle Crouds or Wandering of
People on their parts of the Streets." The distribution
included "Kirk Street (East Side) 2do. Baillie William Fraser, from
Baillie Barbour’s House to the said Common."
There is an interesting story in Antiquarian Notes
by Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, of Drummond, F.S.A. Scot (A. & W. Mackenzie,
Inverness, 1865, pp. 70-74):
Three of the Magistrates of Inverness in trouble
arising out of a trial for Murder, taken Red-Hand, 1723. Included is a
letter to the effect, "That your petitioners, William Fraser, William
Maclean, and John Fraser, have been lately summoned to appear, the 18th
day of November next at Edinburgh, to a criminal prosecution carried on
against them by His Majesty’s advocate for a supposed injustice in a
sentence pronounced by the Magistrates of Inverness in June last against
James Miller, a tide-waiter, and Richard Barlow and Francis Powell,
soldiers in General Sabine’s regiment…" They felt it was unfair to
haul them away from their duties in Inverness.
Baillie William Fraser was married to Margaret Kinnaird,
who had some very interesting friends, as evidenced by the witnesses at
the baptism of their children:
Dec 22nd 1720 -
William Fraser Baillie of Inverness & Margaret Kinaird
his spouse had a child baptized by Mr Robert Baillie called William.
William Kinnaird, Will : McLean late Baillie William McIntosh, Merts.,
wits.
Jan 11th 1722 -
William Fraser late Baillie in Inverness & Margaret
Kinaird his spouse had a child baptized by Mr Robert Baillie called
Jean. William McLean Baillie, John Fraser Treasurer, wits.
Nov 22nd 1723 -
William Fraser Baillie of Inverness & Margaret Kinnaird
his spouse had a child baptized by Mr William Stuart called John.
John Forbes of Culloden, John Fraser Master of Lovat, John Hossack and
John Fraser present Baillies of Inverness, wits. [Ed: John Fraser,
Master of Lovat (aka John Fraser, of Beaufort, was supposed to have died
in 1716 in the house of Major James Fraser of Castleleathers.]
Nov 26th 1726 -
William Fraser Baillie of Inverness & Margt. Kinnaird
his spouse had a child baptized by Mr Alexr. Fraser called Simon.
Simon Fraser Lord Lovat, Simon Fraser Master of Lovat, wits. [Ed:
Lord Lovat (aka Simon Fraser, of Beaufort), was showing off his recently
born male heir (1726-82), by his wife Margaret Grant, whom he had married
in 1716; she would die soon after giving birth to Alexander (1729-62). ]
I cannot confirm if two other children listed in the
IGI can be attributed to the same couple:
Nov 10th 1710 - George, s/o
William Fraser & Kinaird.
Dec 16th 1712 - Margaret, d/o
William Fraser & Margaret Kinaird.
The IGI records a marriage 3 June 1708 in Forres, Moray
for William Fraser & Margret Kinnard, and baptism 15 Feb 1680 at Saint
Cuthberts, Edinburgh, for Margret, d/o John Kinaird & Euphan Crawford. If
this is the same Margaret, she would have been 46 when her last child
[Simon] was born, which is unusual, but possible.
Abduction of Miss Jean Fraser
As noted above, there was a Baillie William Fraser in
the 1720s but he was married to Margaret [not Jean] Kinnaird.
In Antiquarian Notes (1897), pp. 92-98, Charles
Fraser-Mackintosh (1828-1901) comments on the great sensation caused in
Inverness and neighbourhood by the abduction of Miss Jean Fraser, only
daughter of the deceased Baillie William Fraser and Mrs Jean Kinnaird. The
young lady was a desirable match, having a fortune of 5000 merks. The
abductor was William Fraser, then a merchant in Fort-Augustus, later a
vintner in Inverness, and a member of one of the most respectable families
in Stratherrick. If the lady herself was willing, her friends were not, as
explained in the following letter, written by the Town Agent in Edinburgh,
to Mr John Hossack, Provost of Inverness, 1st February 1744,
quoted by Fraser-Mackintosh:
"Dear Sir, - Last night about six aClock the Bearer
with the Magistrates letter and precognitions anent the Insult and Ryot
committed on my good old friend Baillie Fraser’s daughter found me in the
Excheqr. Court where I was detained till betwixt eight & nine aClock at
night upon closs business. But as soon as I got free I went down to Mr
Robert Dundass, His Majestie’s Solicitor-Generall & consulted him upon the
affair, & after reading the precognitions and coppies of letters, &c., he
drew a petition to the Lords of Justiciary in name of Mrs Fraser, the
mother, & son, and by six aClock in the morning I got the Justiciary Clerk
Dept. and… had the petition transcribed over, and a proper warrand write
out ready agt nine aClock to get signed by a Lord of Justiciary. But
haveing got as much time as to wait upon my Lord President & acquaint him
of the affair, he was of opinion that as the thing was so very atrocious
that the petition should be in name of the Lord Advocat & be signed by Mr
Solicitor. Accordingly, when I came back to the Parliament House about ten
aClock I first acquainted the whole Lords of Justiciary of the affair, and
they thought as the President did, that the King’s Advocat should give his
countenance so far as to take the precognition for his own information and
then sign the petition himself. Thereupon I got the petition write out of
new & and the warrand made out upon it. I waited till the Lords rose &
then got the Justiciary Lords to meet, and they ordered the warrand, which
is signed by Lord Roystoun, & you have it inclosed. As it is now half ane
hour after two, I doubt much if the bearer can overtake the tyde at Leith.
However, to show you that I have been diligent, & not neglected a moment,
I have despatched the bearer before I sat down to dinner. As for the
assistance of the military, the Lords would not allow it except that they
heard the Civill Magistrat was deforced, in which case proper application
may be made, & assistance will be given. There is one thing that you must
get done and that is to get a letter from Mrs Fraser and her son directed
to Mr Robert Dundass, His Majestie’s Solicitor, acquainting him that they
have sent to me the precognition and proper information anent the Insult
and Ryot committed by Wm. Fraser on their daughter and sister, & begging
his countenance and assistance to get justice, which you’ll send me any
time with your conveniency that it may lye with the precognitions. This I
undertook for, or I would not got the Solicitor to sign the petition. I
received the five guineas you sent me.
I am, Dr Sr, your most obedient sert. (Sgd.) WILL.
FORBES."
It would appear that Lord Lovat was applied to by
William Fraser and his friends, but his Lordship absolutely declined, and
the postscript to his letter, dated 25th January 1744,
addressed to Hugh Fraser, younger of Foyers, shows his views of abduction
in old age, different probably from what he would have written fifty years
earlier.
"As to the letter which it seems the girl has wrote
to Inverness, in order to ‘appease the Magistrate’, I can assure you
neither that nor all the declarations that she can make, while her liberty
is restrained will avail or better the case a single farthing. These
proceedings can have no other effect but to aggravate the crime and to
inflame the resentment to it and nothing but sending the girl immediately
to Inverness, whether married or unmarried, can save every man that has
been in this affair from ruin and destruction, the whole name of Fraser
from eternal shame, and my person and family from hurt and trouble."
Charles Fraser-Mackintosh puts Lord Lovat’s reluctance
to condone the actions of William Fraser, down to his own lofty status. I
wonder if the widow of Baillie William Fraser was related to Patrick 2nd
Lord Kinnaird (d. 1701) who had married Anne, eldest daughter of Hugh
Fraser 8th Lord Lovat (1643-72) and sister of Hugh 9th
Lord Lovat (1666-96). After all, Simon Lord Lovat (c1668-1747) had only
recently (1738) succeeded in paying off Amelia Fraser’s son Hugh, by
[Alexander Mackenzie] Fraser of Fraserdale, and obtained a release from
Charles 5th Lord Kinnaird as heir to his mother Anne, daughter
of Hugh 8th Lord Lovat, thereby enabling him to take possession
of the Lovat estates.
A paper dated 1779 bears that:
"William Fraser, merchant in Fort-Augustus,
thereafter vintner in Inverness, having under cloud of night, with a band
of men, forcibly entered the house in the month of January 1744, of Mrs
Jean Kinnaird, relict of Baillie William Fraser, merchant, in Inverness,
and thence carried off Jean Fraser, only daughter of the said Baillie
William Fraser, and brought her to Stratherrick, where he married her, the
Magistrates of Inverness, entered a criminal prosecution against him and
his accomplices before the Court of Justiciary."
Fraser-Mackintosh notes that the criminal proceedings
were likely to be attended with very serious consequences to William
Fraser, and Lord Lovat having failed them, William Fraser and his friends
applied to Norman Macleod of Macleod to intercede with the Magistrates of
Inverness to withdraw the prosecution.
Macleod was then member for the county, and possessed
great influence therein, and also with the Magistrates and the Hanoverian
Government. His private character was bad and this, coupled with his
conduct towards Prince Charles, has given him an unenviable position in
the history of his honourable house. But he did exert himself in the
matter, though considerable time elapsed before an arrangement could be
made, and it was not until the 17th of June 1745, that the
proceedings were stayed by Macleod accepting a bill, payable on the 2nd
of November 1745, to Mr William Forbes, Writer to the Signet, Agent, for
the town, for the very considerable sum, at that period, of £70 sterling,
being the expenses of the criminal process up to that date.
William Fraser’s outrageous proceedings appear to have
arisen from his impecuniousness, and as early as 1745, the portion of his
wife, Jean Fraser, of 5000 merks was assigned by them to Thomas Fraser of
Gortuleg. Owing to the troubles in the country in ’45-46, no demand was
made upon Macleod’s bill until 1754. Charles Fraser-Mackintosh records
William Fraser’s ungrateful conduct in the matter.
Macleod naturally applied to Fraser, by this time
settled as a vintner in Inverness, to relieve him, and as he declined to
do so, a process was instituted against him in the Sheriff Court at
Inverness.
As soon as the first interlocutor was pronounced,
William Fraser advocated the case. In the meantime letters of inhibition
at Macleod’s instance were raised in 1758; and in January 1760, after a
long proof and keen contest, decree was given against William Fraser for
the said sum of £70, with interest and expenses from 2nd
November 1745. In July 1761, Macleod took a process of adjudication
against Fraser, adjudging a tenement of land or dwelling-house in
Inverness, which he had himself acquired under adjudication, containing
the following reference to the Burgage land west of the River Ness, viz,
"Little Inverness"- "All and haill that house or tenement of Burrow bigged
land lying in that part of the town of Inverness, which lies on the north
side of the water of Ness, commonly called Little Inverness, formerly
possessed by Alexander Chisholm, cooper in Inverness, and his sub-tenants,
and now by his widow, with the yeard, area, and pertinents thereto
belonging, if any be." Macleod at the same time adjudged an heritable bond
over the lands of Erchitt for £200 sterling of principal and annual rents,
granted by Fraser of Erchitt to the said William Fraser.
At the date of adjudication in July 1761, the original
debt of £70 had run to £224 sterling. Macleod finding that the bond over
Erchitt had been previously validly conveyed to Dr James Fraser of London,
and William Fraser having died insolvent, was glad to get rid of the
business even at a considerable sacrifice, and upon the 28th
April 1767, assigned the debt to trustees for behoof of Ann Fraser, relict
of the deceased Simon Fraser, merchant in Inverness. Ann Fraser and her
trustees now took up the running with vigour, and in the first place
obtained decreets of constitution and of adjudication against William
Fraser, son and heir in general of the deceased William Fraser, and his
tutors and curators.
Ann Fraser’s advisers discovered that the deceased
William Fraser had a debt against John Macdonell of Ardnabi, against whom
he had obtained a decreet of adjudication on the 15th June
1752.
She also was confirmed executor creditor to William
Fraser, giving up on inventory Jean Fraser’s 5000 merks before referred
to; as also £43 16s 9d, the amount of a bill drawn up by the deceased
William Fraser and accepted by Simon Fraser, brother to Hugh Fraser of
Foyers. It would appear that on the 3rd November 1761, there
was a post nuptial contract of marriage between William Fraser and Jean
Fraser. With regard to the debt against Ardnabi, James Fraser of Gortuleg,
Writer to the Signet, offered Ann Fraser £60 for her rights, which she
accepted on 31st May 1776.
At Whitsunday 1779 the original debt of £70, which,
with interest and expenses amounted, in July 1761 to £224, had now reached
with further interest the enormous sum of £424 sterling. Of this sum Ann
Fraser had received the Ardnabi debt of £60, and she considered the Foyers
bill with accumulated interest amounting to £80, good, thus leaving a
deficit of no less than £282.
To meet this there was only the adjudication against
the property in Little Inverness, and as there was a competition by other
creditors, Charles Fraser-Mackintosh states: I fancy that Ann Fraser did
not make much of her speculation, although I am unable positively to say
how the matter terminated. Jean Fraser, the heroine of my story, lived
into the 19th century. I find a receipt dated at Inverness, the
27th May 1803, wherein, "I, Jean Fraser, relict of the deceased
William Fraser, vintner in Inverness, acknowledge to have received from
James Fraser, vintner in Inverness, the sum of £60 sterling to account of
the furniture sold him by contract."
Unsolved Mystery
I suspect that Charles Fraser-Mackintosh’s premise that
Jean Fraser, relict of the deceased William Fraser, vintner in Inverness
in 1803, was the same Jean Fraser, relict of William Fraser, who abducted
her in 1744, is a bit flawed, since the heroine of the story was born in
1722 and would have been 81 in 1803.
Although further research is required, it is more
likely that the following inscription from the Inverness Chapel Yard
Cemetery, relates to the daughter of Jean Fraser, abducted by William
Fraser in 1744:
To the memory of William Fraser, writer and Commissary
in Inverness, who departed this life the 29th day of June 1811,
aged 80 years [born c1730]; and his dutifull spouse Jean Fraser, who
departed this life the 12th day of Jany 1826, aged 79 years
[born c1747]; and their children.
Baptism recorded in Inverness OPR:
Jan 12th 1764 -
Willm Fraser writer had a child in Fornication with Ann
McLean his servt called Thomas. Alexr McTavish & Alexr McTavish,
wits.
William Fraser married Jean Fraser 29 Oct 1764 Dores
Baptisms of their children recorded in Inverness OPR:
Aug 27th 1765 -
William Fraser writer & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child baptized by Mr Robert Rose called Alexander. Lieut. John
Fraser & Lieut. Alexander Fraser, wits.
May 29th 1767 -
William. I do not have a copy of this entry.
June 21st 1769 -
William Fraser writer & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child baptized by Mr Robt. Rose called Simon. Hector Fraser Rector
Grammar School & Duncan Fraser, Mert, wits.
July 6th 1771 -
William Fraser writer & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child baptized by Mr Robt. Rose called Jean (Jane). Arthur
Robertson of Inches, Donald McQueen of Corryburgh, wits. [Inscription from
Inverness Chapel Yard Cemetery: Here repose the ashes of Jane Fraser,
eldest d/o William Fraser Esq., late Commissary of Inverness, and wife of
Captn Simon Fraser. She died 8th day of April 1848, aged 76
years; also their youngest daughter Jamesina.]
Aug 29th 1778 -
William Fraser writer & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child baptized by Mr Alexr. Fraser called Anne. Arthur Robertson of
Inches, Baillie John McIntosh, wits. [Inscription from Inverness Chapel
Yard Cemetery: Sacred to the memory of Ann Fraser, d/o the deceased
William Fraser, Commissary of Inverness, she died at Inverness, 21st
Aug 1822 in the 43rd year of her age.]
Nov 16th 1779 -
William Fraser writer & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child baptized by Mr Alexr. Fraser called Angus. Arthur Robertson
of Inches, Mr Hector Fraser, wits.
Dec 5th 1782 -
William Fraser writer & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child baptized by Mr Alexr. Fraser called Thomas. Simon Fraser of
Farraline Esq. Sherriff & Arthur Robertson of Inches Esq., wits.
Nov 14th 1786 -
William Fraser writer & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child baptized by Mr Alexr. Fraser called Marjory. Arthur Robertson
of Inches, Simon Fraser of Farraline, wits. [Inscription from Inverness
Chapel Yard Cemetery: Under this stone lie interred the remains of Marjory
Fraser, d/o the late William Fraser, Commissary of Inverness & spouse of
Alexander Tolmie, merchant in Glasgow, who departed this life 13th
February 1818, aged 31 years.]
I am puzzled by the comment made by Charles
Fraser-Mackintosh: Jean Fraser, the heroine of my story, lived into the 19th
century. I find a receipt dated at Inverness, the 27th May
1803, wherein, "I, Jean Fraser, relict of the deceased William Fraser,
vintner in Inverness, acknowledge to have received from James Fraser,
vintner in Inverness, the sum of £60 sterling to account of the furniture
sold him by contract."
A more likely candidate for Jean Fraser, relict of the
deceased William Fraser, vintner in Inverness in 1803, would be the
following:
To the memory of William Fraser, late vintner [in]
Inverness, Mason Lodge, who died the 11th day January 1802,
aged 43 years [born c1758]; and of Donald and John his sons, who died in
infancy. This stone is place by his affectionate [spou]se Jean Fraser.
William Fraser Bught married Jean Fraser 13 May 1794
Inverness.
Baptisms [among others] recorded in Inverness OPR:
Oct 20th 1794 Supplement -
William Fraser vintner & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child bapt by Mr Alexr Fraser called Janet. Willm Welsh & Donald
Fraser, wits.
July 20th 1796 -
William Fraser vintner & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child bapt by Mr Alexr Fraser called Simon. Farquhar McDonald &
Donald Fraser, wits.
March 20th 1798 Supplement -
William Fraser vintner & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child bapt by Mr Alexr Fraser called James. Farquhar McDonald &
Donald Fraser, wits.
May 27th 1800 Supplement -
William Fraser vintner & his spouse Jean Fraser had a
child bapt by Mr Alexr Fraser called Peter. Simon Fraser & Farquhar
McDonald, wits.
Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, M.P. (1828-1901)
The
following has been extracted from a lengthy biographical sketch in The
Celtic Magazine (pp. 265-74), by Alexander Mackenzie (1838-98), a prolific
writer and publisher in Inverness:
"Mr Fraser-Mackintosh was born on the 5th of
June 1828 at Dochnalurg, on the estate of Dochgarroch. His father,
Alexander Fraser, a cadet of the family of Fraser of Kinneries [Culbokie],
was born so far back as 1764. His great-grandfather, also named Alexander,
lived in 1708 at Achnabodach, now Charleston, on the property of Kinmylies,
and is on record as having paid a sum of money to the Town Council of
Inverness for the freedom of toll over the old stone bridge, carried away
by the flood of 1849, for himself and for his heirs for ever. Two of his
sons, having been "out" in 1715, were among the first Highlanders who
emigrated to South Carolina; and from them sprung the numerous and wealthy
Frazers (for so they spell their surname) who, for the last century and
a-half, have held such influential positions in the city of Charleston,
and were so prominent in the late Federal and Confederate war in the
United States of America."
Charles Fraser added the Mackintosh in order to inherit
his uncle’s estate. He was a descendant of the Frasers of Culbokie through
his father, Alexander Fraser (1764-1834) and the Mackintoshes of Borlum
through his mother, Marjory Mackintosh (1786-1865). His
g-g-g-g-grandfather Alexander Fraser 3rd laird of Guisachan
renounced his rights as heir in favour of his younger brother, Hugh
Fraser. Duncan Warrand, in Some Fraser Pedigrees (1934), notes that
the late Fraser-Mackintosh thought the matter extremely discreditable to
the family, but the deeds were considered to be valid, and the
renunciation was upheld by the Court of Session. In 1876 he married
Eveline May Holland but died without issue in 1901, by which time the male
line of the Frasers of Guisachen and Culbokie had died out in Scotland.
