Person Page - 207

     Rev. Donald Fraser M.A. was born on 13 January 1783.² He was the son of Rev. Dr. Alexander Fraser and Isabella Fraser.³ Rev. Donald Fraser M.A. was baptised on 14 June 1783 at Inverness.⁴ He was appointed in 1802, minister of the parish at Kirkhill, near Inverness.¹ He married Jane Gordon, daughter of Peter Gordon of Borlum and Mary Grant, on 2 November 1802.^3,2 Rev. Donald Fraser M.A. died on 12 July 1836 at the age of 53 "Mr Fraser attended a funeral at Kiltarlity, and was returning home in a gig driven by a boy, when the horse stumbled, and he was thrown from his seat. Mr Fraser did not seem to be seriously hurt, but he grew worse during the afternoon, and expired the same evening at eleven o’clock. He had burst a blood vessel. "The deceased was a highly popular clergyman, of great talent, learning, and eloquence, and of accomplished manners. There was scarcely a pulpit within the wide circle of the Northern Counties in which his virtues were not eulogised last Sunday, in language which came from the heart, and awakened kindred emotion on the part of the congregation." "From the "Inverness Courier," 20 July 1836.^5,6

     Donald William Fraser died on 16 August 1979 in Lethbridge.¹

     Edith Constance Fraser was born in 1868.¹ She was the daughter of Alexander Fraser and Mary Mead Torrance. Edith Constance Fraser died on 24 January 1900 in 57 Pitt Street, Windsor, Ontario, spinster.²

     Edward Ellice Fraser was born in 1842. He was the son of John Fraser and Selina Torrance.¹ Edward Ellice Fraser died on 24 August 1852 in Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna.¹ He was buried in London, Ontario.¹

     Edward Gordon Fraser was born on 25 July 1855.¹ He was the son of Rev. Donald Fraser D.D. and Theresa Eliza Isabella Gordon.¹ Edward Gordon Fraser died on 31 July 1855 of convulsions.² He was buried on 1 August 1855 in Erskine Presbyterian Church.

     Elizabeth Fraser was born circa 1905 in Michigan.² She was the daughter of Frederick Laing Fraser and Bessie F. Beatty.¹

     Elizabeth Dorothea Fraser was born on 20 March 1905.^2,3 She was the daughter of Major-General Sir Theodore Fraser K.C.B., C.S.I., C.M.G. and Constance Ruth Stevenson.² Elizabeth Dorothea Fraser married Major Harold Charles Harker Taylor O.B.E., son of H. Harker Taylor, on 6 November 1928 in St. James's, Piccadilly.⁴ Elizabeth's death was registered in the quarter ending December 1990 in the Pershore, Worcestershire, registration district.⁵

     Ella Lilias Fraser was born on 3 February 1895 in India.¹ She was the daughter of Ernest Gordon Fraser and Florence Ellen King.^1,2 Ella Lilias Fraser died on 5 June 1987 in Gloucestershire at the age of 92.

     Ernest Gordon Fraser. Engineer in the Indian Civil Service.² He was born on 21 August 1856 in Canada.^3,4 He was the son of Rev. Donald Fraser D.D. and Theresa Eliza Isabella Gordon.⁵ Ernest Gordon Fraser was baptised on 28 September 1856 at Coté St. Presbyterian Church, Montréal. He married Florence Ellen King, daughter of James Pearce King, on 1 November 1893 in Baughurst, Hampshire.⁶ Ernest Gordon Fraser died on 1 November 1935 in St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, at the age of 79.^3,7

     Ethel Fraser was the daughter of William Torrance Fraser and Florence Emily Doan.¹

     Ethel C. Fraser was born in July 1885 in Michigan.¹ She was the daughter of John Edward Fraser and Anna Sexton.²

     Florence Grace Fraser was born on 19 November 1866 probably in Edinburgh.¹ She was the daughter of Rev. William Fraser and Margaret Cuningham Playfair.² Florence Grace Fraser died on 15 September 1901 in Ballaigues, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland, at the age of 34.³

     Lt. Colonel Frederick John Fraser was born on 6 May 1867 in the Free High Church Manse, Inverness, Scotland.^1,2,3 He was the son of Rev. Donald Fraser D.D. and Theresa Eliza Isabella Gordon.¹ Lt. Colonel Frederick John Fraser appears on the census of 4 April 1881 at 3 Cambridge Square, London.¹ On 12 September 1888 he started military service as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Liverpool Regiment and was seconded to the Indian Staff Corps in 1892. In 1912 he is listed as a Major, Second Double Company Commander in the 33rd Punjabis and Lt. Colonel 46th Punjabis 12 September 1914.⁴ He died on 26 November 1943 at La Clinique Ambroise Paré, Toulouse, France, at the age of 76.^5,6

     Frederick Laing Fraser was born on 11 September 1861 in Detroit, Michigan, though various census report his birth place as Canada.^2,3,4 He was the son of Alexander Fraser and Mary Mead Torrance.¹ Frederick Laing Fraser married Bessie F. Beatty, daughter of James Beatty, on 3 June 1891 in Holy Trinity Church, Chatham, Ontario.³ Frederick Laing Fraser died on 15 February 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 72.⁴

     Grace Fraser was the daughter of William Torrance Fraser and Florence Emily Doan.¹

     Helen Millicent Fraser was born on 24 August 1861. She was the daughter of Rev. Donald Fraser D.D. and Theresa Eliza Isabella Gordon. Helen Millicent Fraser died on 10 January 1866 at the age of 4 Inverness Chapel Yard #1827 (Panel). "Two sisters asleep in Jesus, Helen Millicent Fraser, died 10th January 1866, aged 4 years; Lillias Isabella Fraser, died 4th May 1869, aged 4 weeks. Daughters of Rev. Donald Fraser, Inverness."

     Hugh Barron Fraser was born on 5 December 1861.² He married Clara Emma Jones on 29 November 1894.^3,4 Hugh Barron Fraser died on 2 November 1937 at the age of 75.²

     Isabella Fraser was born on 24 June 1758.¹ She was the daughter of Colonel Alexander Fraser of Culduthel and Lilias Chisholm.² Isabella Fraser married Rev. Dr. Alexander Fraser, son of Rev. Donald Fraser.¹

     Isabella Fraser was the daughter of Rev. Donald Fraser M.A. and Jane Gordon.¹

     Isabelle May Fraser was born on 16 May 1895 in Queensland.¹ She was the daughter of Alfred William Fraser and Clara Phillips.^2,1 Isabelle May Fraser married Henry William Cothay on 23 December 1922 in Bombay, India.^2,3 Isabelle May Fraser died on 7 December 1926 in Cawnpore, Bengal, India, at the age of 31. At Cawnpore suddenly from pneumonia on the 7th December 1926 Isabelle May dearly loved wife of H W Cothay Indian Ordnance Department.⁴

     Jane Fraser was the daughter of John Fraser and Lillias Fraser.¹ Jane Fraser died on 7 March 1870 in Montréal.

     Jane Speirs Playfair Fraser was born on 11 June 1858 probably in Gourock.³ She was the daughter of Rev. William Fraser and Margaret Cuningham Playfair.¹ Jane Speirs Playfair Fraser married Dr. Alexander Robert Coldstream M.D., F.R.C.S.E. on 28 September 1886 in Queen's road Presbyterian Church, Brighton, Sussex, the service was celebrated by her uncle.^1,2,4 Jane Speirs Playfair Fraser died on 27 January 1942 in Cambridge at the age of 83.⁵

     Jane Torrance Fraser was the daughter of John Fraser and Selina Torrance.¹

     Jean Gordon Fraser was born on 15 October 1898 in India.² She was the daughter of Ernest Gordon Fraser and Florence Ellen King.¹ Jean Gordon Fraser married Major Hanmer Gethin Bodvel Griffith M.B.E. in April 1929 in Monmouth.¹ Jean's death was registered in the quarter ending March 1981 in the Evesham, Hereford and Worcester, registration district.^1,2

     John Fraser. Merchant and ship owner and sometime Commissioner in Canada of the British North American Land Company. Provost of Inverness.^1,2 He was born in 1795. He was the son of Alexander Fraser and Annabella Munro. John Fraser married Lillias Fraser, daughter of Rev. Donald Fraser M.A. and Jane Gordon. John Fraser married secondly Selina Torrance, daughter of John Torrance, on 7 May 1839 in St. James Methodist Church, Montréal.^3,4 John Fraser died on 21 December 1852 in Ontario he was thrown from his carriage, falling on his head.⁵

     John Fraser. A missionary.¹ He was born circa 1833. He was the son of John Fraser and Lillias Fraser.¹ John Fraser died in July 1871 near Bagdad, Iraq,

DEATH OF MR. JOHN FRASER, NEAR BAGHDAD.

Another faithful soldier of Jesus Christ has fallen at his post - the post of danger and of honour. Unconnected with any society, Mr. Fraser has, for nearly ten years, been seeking to gather in souls among the Arabic speaking races in the East. Egypt, the Holy Land, and latterly Persia, were the scenes of his labours. Mostly single-handed he has delivered his message - " a voice crying in the wilderness." The great day alone shall declare the results of this devoted missionary's testimony and work. His was a loving and gentle spirit in all his intercourse with others; only to himself was he severe and exacting.

We knew that our friend had been weakened by dysentery at Baghdad, upwards of two months ago, but a few lines from himself, published in this paper, led us to hope that he was convalescent. A rumour from Beirout reached his brothers (Rev. Donald Fraser, of London, and Rev. Wm. Fraser, of Edinburgh), last week, which re-awakened our anxieties, and these, alas for us! have all been confirmed.

Early in August the Persian Government ordered a quarantine doctor to visit one of the plague and famine-stricken regions, seven days' journey from Baghdad ; this official, it appears, invited Mr. Fraser to accompany him. Our friend, ever ready, like his Master, to relieve human misery, accepted the invitation, and started on his errand of mercy, but, we fear, in a condition quite unfitted for such exertion in such a climate. Three days' journey had been accomplished, when a message came from above -"Come up higher!" - and death by sunstroke became the entrance into rest for this solitary worker.

" Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men ! "

The Inverness Courier has the following particulars :- " Mr. John Fraser, now in his 39th year, was the fourth son of the late Provost Fraser, of Inverness, and bore his father's name. The eldest son of the family is Mr. Alexander Fraser, of Cobourg, Ontario, and a member of the Legislative Assembly of that province; the second son is the Rev. Donald Fraser, of Marylebone; and the third the Rev. William Fraser, of Edinburgh. Though very thoroughly educated for the Presbyterian ministry, John Fraser never sought ordination, and, showing strong bent toward individual freedom of action, never acted under any missionary committee. His chosen work was to serve as a pioneer, opening up new ground, and pressing forward in Christ's name into arduous fields and among neglected populations: work for which he was singularly qualified by his faith, courage, self-denial, and elevation of spirit. His labours in this country were so abundant and wide-spread that he will be deeply lamented by many in both Highlands and Lowlands. His first labours in the East were at Cairo, in Egypt, where he laid the foundation of a thorough acquaintance with the Arabic language. Thence he removed to Beirout, where he taught for some time in the Syrian Protestant College - making excursions into the region of the Lebanon, and not only preaching in villages, but reading the Greek Testament in the Maronite and Greek Catholic convents.

" In Baghdad, his last station, he laboured among Mohammedans and Jews, and cast wistful eyes towards Persia; but like Henry Martyn, whose spirit he breathed, he has died and been buried far away from his native land and kindred. But he has not lived or died in vain. He rests from his labours, and his works follow him. He is a witness, that the spirit of heroism and martyrdom is not extinct; and that, while men who love their lives lose them, a man who hates his own life, for the Lord's sake,' keeps it to life eternal !'" The Christian, 21 September 1871.^1,2

He was buried on 29 July 1871 in Shirween, Iraq.

John Fraser, youngest son of Mr. John Fraser, Provost of Inverness, was educated privately till he joined the Fifth Class at the Academy, in the session of 1845-46. Thence he proceeded to King's College and University, Aberdeen; and there graduated with honours as M.A. in 1850. He then took a full course of theological study in connection with the Free Church of Scotland. But on the eve of receiving licence as a preacher ' zeal for the evangelisation of the world made him shrink from official connection with any one branch of the Christian Church.' He became therefore an Evangelist at large. He acquired the power of speaking the Gaelic, Welsh, French, Italian, German, Arabic, and Persian languages.

After having had much success in his labours, chiefly in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, he worked for some time in Egypt. Thence Fraser went to Beyrout, where he taught Mathematics and Astronomy in the Armenian College; improving his knowledge of Arabic, and preaching in the villages of Lebanon. Fraser then crossed from Aleppo to Baghdad. There, and in the regions round about, he preached and distributed Bibles, etc. After a serious illness, he rode with a Medical Inspector to the borders of Persia, in which country he hoped to find an opening for Mission work, but he was struck down by the sun, and lived only half an hour, and was buried at Shirween, on 29th July 1871.

John Fraser is described as an 'intense student of the Bible in the original languages;' and there are not wanting evidences of the good that he was instrumental in doing during his short but scattered life - scattered but not wasted.

We are indebted for these details to Fraser's brother, the Rev. William Fraser, minister of the Presbyterian Church of England, Brighton. The Rev. Donald Fraser, D.D., Presbyterian Church of England, Marylebone, is an elder brother.

Very recently certain Christian workers in Cairo, Jerusalem, and Beyrout have spoken in warm and grateful terms of Fraser's usefulness; and a handsome Arabic Hymnal, with music, lately published at Beyrout, has been characterised as ' a fruit of his enthusiastic and practical stimulus to hallowed song' in Syria.

Some of those who knew and loved John Fraser have, it is understood, offered to contribute, and collect facts if one of his brothers would undertake to write his 'Life;' but they have thought they were best fulfilling his wishes by continuing to leave him - like his tomb on the border of Persia - without an inscription.

The last appearance of John Fraser at the Cumming Club was in January 1854. Chronicles of the Cumming club and memories of old academy days 1841-1846, compiled by Alexander Fraser, p. 164.

     John Edward Fraser was born in September 1855 in Cobourg, Ontario.² He was the son of Alexander Fraser and Mary Mead Torrance.¹ John Edward Fraser married Anna Sexton on 11 January 1882 in Manhattan, New York.³

     Flight Lieut. John Ruthven Fraser's birth was registered in the quarter ending December 1906 in the St. Marylebone, London, registration district.³ He was the son of Major-General Sir Theodore Fraser K.C.B., C.S.I., C.M.G. and Constance Ruth Stevenson.⁴ On 30 May 1938 he was posted to R.A.F. Station, Debden. Flight Lieut. John Ruthven Fraser died on 17 October 1938 in Debden, Saffron Walden, at the age of 31.²

     Jonathan Bruce Theodore Fraser was born on 23 May 1943 at 27 Welbeck Street, London.² He was the son of Sir Bruce Donald Fraser K.C.B. and Audrey Croslegh.¹ Jonathan Bruce Theodore Fraser died in 1964. He was buried on 16 October 1964 in Brompton, London.³