Clan Fraser

Jacobite rising of 1715
During the Jacobite rising of 1715, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat "the Fox", Chief at the time, supported the British Government and surrounded the Jacobite garrison in Inverness. The Clan MacDonald of Keppoch attempted to relieve the garrison, but when their path was blocked by the Frasers, Keppoch retreated. The Inverness garrison surrendered to Fraser on the same day that the Battle of Sheriffmuir was fought, and another Jacobite force was defeated at the Battle of Preston. In 1719 during the Jacobite rising of that year the British General, Joseph Wightman, passed through Fraser country en route to the Battle of Glen Shiel and gathered with him Fraser of Lovat's men as he went. General Wade's report on the Highlands in 1724, estimated the clan strength at 800 men.

Jacobite rising of 1745
In 1725 the British Field Marshall George Wade gave instructions that had come to him from George I of Great Britain to re-establish the Independent Highland Companies of soldiers to support the British Government. Chief Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was appointed as Captain of one of these Independent Highland Companies. However, Wade complained to George II of Great Britain that the Independent Highland Companies had been infiltrated by Jacobitism and demanded that the king take action. Wade put up Lord Lovat's captaincy as the first to go. In 1740 George II demanded action and Wade stepped in and stripped Lovat of his company of Frasers, putting them under command elsewhere. Wade also advised the government to remove Lord Lovat from his office as High Sheriff of Inverness-shire. As a result, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, later gave his support to the Jacobite leader Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), and when asked why he had engaged with the Prince after receiving so many favours from the government, he replied that "he did it more in revenge to the ministry for having taken away his Independent Company, than anything else". Frasers were on the front lines of the Jacobite army at the Battle of Falkirk, and the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

At Culloden, Charles Fraser of Inverallochy who led the clan at the battle, was mortally wounded and found by General Hawley on the field, who ordered one of his aides, a young James Wolfe to finish him off with a pistol. Wolfe refused, so Hawley got a common soldier to do it. David Fraser of Glen Urquhart, who was deaf and mute, had, it was said, charged and killed seven redcoats, but was captured and died in prison. John Fraser, also called 'MacIver' was shot in the knee, taken prisoner and put before a firing squad, but was then rescued by a British officer, Lord Boyd, who was sick of the slaughter. Another John Fraser, who was Provost of Inverness, tried to get fair treatment for the prisoners. As the first of the Jacobites fleeing from Culloden approached Inverness they were met by a battalion of Frasers led by the 11th Lord Lovat's son, Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat. Tradition states that the Master of Lovat immediately about-turned his men and marched down the road back towards Inverness, with pipes playing and colours flying. There are however varying traditions as to what happened at the bridge which spans the River Ness. One tradition is that Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat intended to hold the bridge until he was persuaded against it. Another is that the bridge was seized by a party of the Campbell of Argyll Militia who were involved in a skirmish when blocking the crossing of retreating Jacobites. While it is almost certain there was a skirmish upon the bridge, it has been proposed that Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat shrewdly switched sides and turned upon the fleeing Jacobites. Such an act would explain his remarkable rise in fortune in the years that followed. Imprisoned for a year, he was pardoned in 1750 and later raised a Fraser regiment for the British Army which fought in Canada in the 1750s, including Quebec.

After the battle, the same year, Castle Dounie was burnt to the ground, while the Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, "the Fox", was on the run. He was captured, tried for treason, and executed in London on 9 April 1747, and his estates and titles were forfeited to the Crown.

Aftermath of Culloden
Castle Dounie was replaced by a small square building costing £300 in which the Royal Commissioner resided until 1774, when some of the forfeited Lovat estates were granted by an Act of Parliament to his son, Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat (1726–1782), by then a major general, in recognition of his military service to the Crown and the payment of some £20,000. Later, two modest wings were added. On the death of General Fraser's younger half-brother, Colonel Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat (1736–1815), without legitimate surviving male issue, the Lovat estates were transferred, by entail, to Thomas Alexander Fraser of Strichen (1802–1875), a distant cousin who was descended from Thomas Fraser of Knockie & Strichen (1548–1612), second son of Alexander Fraser, 4th Lord Lovat (1527–1557). Knockie was sold about 1727 to Hugh Fraser of Balnain (1702–1735).

Seven Years' War
Under the chief, Simon (who had led the Frasers in the '45 as the Master of Lovat) a regiment of Frasers, the 78th Fraser Highlanders, numbering fourteen hundred were raised and fought the French and Indians in the colonies and in Canada, from 1757 to 1759. The 78th fought under General Wolfe, who had previously fought at the Battle of Culloden, against Simon and perhaps some of the 78th. It was one of the 78th, possibly Simon, possibly one of his men, whose familiarity with the French language saved the first wave of British troops at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which led to the capture of Quebec.

American Rebellion
In the fight against American independence Simon, who was by this time a General, raised 2,300 men; the 71st Fraser Highlanders. He recruited two battalions at Inverness, Stirling and Glasgow. Most of the men were not Frasers for the number of Frasers had been substantially reduced after the battle of Culloden and the end of the clan system.

Diaspora
Many Frasers settled in Canada and the United States after the war against the French in Quebec. The motto and coat of arms of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia are adapted from the Clan. Many others later emigrated to those countries and to Australia and New Zealand (which have both had a Fraser prime minister). Frasers in the US have continued their proud military tradition, fighting on both sides of the American Civil War. Frasers from both sides of the Atlantic fought in the First World War, and the Second World War.

On 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the 21st Lady Saltoun, a member of the Royal Family, was made "Chief of the name and arms of the whole Clan Fraser". Lord Lovat, Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, was reported to have not given any heed to the decision, dismissing the matter as being beneath him. Since this decree, there has been much confusion as to who is the Chief of the Clan Fraser.

Many believe that this decree made the Lady Saltoun the chief of the Clan. However, the Lord Lyon did not grant the chiefship of the Clan Fraser, just a description of "Chief of the name and arms." The Lord Lyon does not have power over the Chief of a Highland Clan. What the decree did was reinforce the Lady Saltoun's claim to being the head of the senior branch of the wider Fraser family, and granted her the use of the plain and undifferenced Fraser arms (three strawberry flowers on a field of blue).