Major-GeneralSimon Joseph Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat and 3rd Baron Lovat,KT, GCVO, KCMG, CB, DSO (25 November 1871 – 18 February 1933[1]) was a Scottish aristocrat,British Army officer, landowner, politician andthe 23rd Chief ofClan Fraser of Lovat.
Fraser was born into a leading ScottishRoman Catholic family on 25 November 1871, the eldest surviving son of nine children born toSimon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat, and Alice Maria Weld-Blundell. Among his siblings were Mary Laura Fraser (wife of John Scott, Viscount Encombe and mother ofJohn Scott, 4th Earl of Eldon),[2] Alice Mary Charlotte Fraser (wife of Bernard Constable-Maxwell and mother ofGerald Maxwell), Etheldreada Mary Fraser (wife of diplomatSir Francis Oswald Lindley), Hugh Joseph Fraser, a Major with theScots Guards who was killed in theFirst Battle of Ypres duringWorld War I),[3] Alastair Thomas Joseph Fraser (husband of Lady Sibyl Grimston, daughter ofJames Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam), Margaret Mary Fraser (wife ofBrig.-Gen.Archibald Stirling and mother ofBill andSir David Stirling) and Muriel Mary Rose Fraser, who became a Catholic nun. His father served asLord Lieutenant of Inverness and aide-de-camp toQueen Victoria from 1883 to 1887.[4]
Educated atFort Augustus Abbey andMagdalen College, Oxford,[5] he was an active member of theOxford University polo team and left with an MA.
Lord Lovat was commissioned into theQueen's Own Cameron Highlanders and promotedlieutenant in 1890, but transferred as a lieutenant into the1st Life Guards in 1894.[6] In 1897, he resigned from the Regular Army and joined a volunteer battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.
In late 1899, Fraser raised theLovat Scouts for service in theSecond Boer War in South Africa, and from February 1900 served as the scouts'second-in-command with the rank of captain, in charge of the mounted infantry.[7] For the Lovat Scouts, he chose the best marksmen he could find and the perfect commander in Andrew David Murray. The corps arrived in South Africa in early 1900, and was attached to theBlack Watch, but was disbanded in July 1901 while two companies (the 113th and 114th) were formed for theImperial Yeomanry. Lord Lovat continued as second-in-command of the two companies until Colonel Murray was killed in a night action with a Boer Commando on 19/20 September 1901, after which Fraser took command of the regiment himself (now aged 29), and remained in command until the end of the war.[8]
The war ended in June 1902, and Lord Lovat relinquished his commission with the Imperial Yeomanry and was granted the honorary rank of major in the army on 11 July 1902.[9] He returned to the United Kingdom with the corps on the SSTintagel Castle the following month, arriving to a public welcome inInverness in late August.[10] For his service in the war, he wasmentioned in despatches (including the final despatch byLord Kitchener dated 23 June 1902),[11] was awarded theDistinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1900, and appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in October 1902.[12]
After the end of the Second Boer War, the remaining two companies returned to the United Kingdom and were disbanded. The unit was reformed the following year, consisting of two regiments, titled the 1st and 2nd Lovat Scouts. From these scouts a sharpshooter unit was formed and formally become the British Army's firstsniper unit.
Lord Lovat was appointed aCommander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 1903 by KingEdward VII.[13] He later served asaide-de-camp to KingGeorge V.[14]
In theFirst World War, Lord Lovat commanded theHighland Mounted Brigade of the2nd Mounted Division, being promoted tobrigadier general in September 1914. He was appointed aKnight of the Thistle in 1915 for demonstrable leadership and courage.[4] In March 1916, he took command of the4th Mounted Division and became a major general two months later.[15] He became aRhodes Trustee in 1917, the same year asRudyard Kipling.
In 1919, Lovat was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George and was appointed Chairman of the Army Forestry Commission, serving from 1919 to 1927.[4]
Apart from a military career Lovat was also Chairman of the Forestry Commission from 1919 to 1927 and served in theConservative administration ofStanley Baldwin asUnder-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from 1927 to 1929.[16]
In February 1910, Lord Lovat was rumoured to be engaged to an American heiress, Edith Clark, a daughter of Charles S. Clark of New York andGrosvenor Square, London.[17] However, on 15 October 1910, Lovat married the Hon. Laura Lister (1892–1965), the second daughter ofThomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale and, his first wife, Charlotte Monkton Tennant (a daughter ofSir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet, MP forPeebles and Selkirk). Among the Fraser family estates wasBeaufort Castle in Scotland (rebuilt by his father in the late 1870s) and 181,800 acres of land.[1] Together, they were the parents of five children, four of whom lived to maturity:[4]
Lovat died of aheart attack in London in February 1933, aged 61,[1] and was succeeded by his eldest son Simon as the15th Lord Lovat (known as the 17th Lord), who distinguished himself during theD-Day landings atNormandy in June 1944.[4]
Through his eldest sonSimon, he was a grandfather of six, includingSimon Fraser, Master of Lovat (1939–1994), Fiona Mary Fraser (b. 1941) (wife of Robin Richard Allen),Annabel Thérèse "Tessa" Fraser (b. 1942) (wife ofHugh Mackay, 14th Lord Reay andSir Henry Keswick), Kim Ian Maurice Fraser (1946–2020), Hugh Alastair Joseph Fraser (1947–2011) (husband of Drusilla Jane Montgomerie),[20] Andrew Roy Matthew Fraser (1952–1994) (husband of Lady Charlotte Anne Greville, a daughter ofDavid Greville, 8th Earl of Warwick).[21]
Through his daughterMagdalen, he was a grandfather of three, includingJohn Joseph Nicholas Scott, 5th Earl of Eldon (1937–2017) and Simon Peter Scott (b. 1939).[2]
Through his sonSir Hugh, he was a grandfather of six, including Rebecca Rose Fraser (b. 1957), Flora Fraser (b. 1958), Benjamin Hugh Fraser (b. 1961), Natasha Fraser (b. 1963), Damian Fraser (b. 1964), and Orlando Fraser (b. 1967).[4]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title | Chairman of the Forestry Commission 1919–1927 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs 1926–1927 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | MacShimidh 1887–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by | Lord Lovat 1887–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Lovat 1887–1933 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
