| Lord Lovat | |
|---|---|
  Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Azure three fraises Argent; 2nd & 3rd: Argent three antique crowns Gules. | |
| Creation date | 1458 |
| Created by | James III |
| Peerage | Peerage of Scotland |
| First holder | Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat |
| Present holder | Simon Fraser, 16th Lord Lovat |
| Heir presumptive | Hon. Jack Fraser, Master of Lovat |
| Subsidiary titles | Baron Lovat |
| Seats | Beaufort Lodge Balblair House[1] |
| Former seat | Beaufort Castle |
| Motto | Je suis prest (I am ready) |
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Lord Lovat (Scottish Gaelic:Mac Shimidh)[2] is a title of the rankLord of Parliament in thePeerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 forHugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament asLord Fraser of Lovat, although the holder is referred to simply asLord Lovat. It was a separate title from theScottish feudal lordship of Lovat, already held by the highland Frasers. In 1837 they were created a third title,Baron Lovat, of Lovat in the County of Inverness, in thePeerage of the United Kingdom. The holder is separately and independently theChief of the highlandClan Fraser of Lovat.
The first Lord Lovat was one of the hostages forJames I of Scotland on his return to Scotland in 1424, and in 1431 he was appointed high sheriff of the county of Inverness. The second Lord Lovat, Thomas, held the office of Justiciary of the North in the reign ofJames IV of Scotland, and died 21 October 1524.
The title descended in a direct line for nine sequential generations from 1458 until the death of the ninth Lord in 1696. He was succeeded by his great-uncle, the tenth Lord. In 1697 the latter's son,Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, known as Simon "the Fox", kidnapped and forcibly married the late ninth Lord's widow, the former Lady Amelia Murray, only daughter ofJohn Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. Lady Lovat's powerful family, the Murrays, were angered, and prosecuted Fraser, who fled the country. Fraser was convictedin absentia,attainted, and sentenced to death. Frasersupported the Government against theJacobite rising of 1715 and was rewarded by being pardoned for his crimes. In 1730, he won litigation to confirm his title of Lord Lovat. In 1745 Lord Lovat participated in theJacobite rising of 1745 (the '45) against the Crown and was sentenced to death. He was beheaded on 9 April 1747, aged 80, onTower Hill in London, the last man to be executed in this manner. His titles were forfeit. Fraser had been created Duke of Fraser, Marquess of Beaufort, Earl of Stratherrick and Upper Tarf, Viscount of the Aird and Strathglass and Lord Lovat and Beaulieu in theJacobite Peerage of Scotland byJames Francis Edward Stuart (titular King James III of England and VIII of Scotland) in 1740.
His eldest son and namesakeGeneral Simon Fraser of Lovat became a general in theBritish Army. He obtained a full pardon but was not restored to the title. His younger brotherArchibald Campbell Fraser was a colonel in the Army and would have succeeded but for the attainder. On his death in 1815 the title was claimed by his kinsman Thomas Fraser, a descendant of Thomas Fraser, second son of the fourth Lord. In 1837 he was createdBaron Lovat, of Lovat in the County of Inverness, in thePeerage of the United Kingdom. The attainder of the eleventh Lord was reversed in 1854, and Thomas Fraser became the twelfth Lord Lovat. He was succeeded by his son, the thirteenth Lord, who served asLord Lieutenant of Inverness. His eldest son, the fourteenth Lord, was a soldier and politician and notably held office asUnder-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from 1926 to 1927. He was succeeded by his eldest son,Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, a prominent soldier who distinguished himself during the Second World War. As of 2017[update] the titles are held by his grandson, the sixteenth Lord, who succeeded in 1994.
TheConservative politicianSir Hugh Fraser was the younger son of the fourteenth Lord. Another member of the family wasSir Ian Fraser, Chairman ofRolls-Royce Motors. He was the son of Hon. Alastair Thomas Joseph Fraser, younger son of thethirteenth Lord.
The family seats areBeaufort Lodge andBalblair House, nearBeauly,Inverness-shire.
The Lordship of Lovat has for some time been linked to theChiefship ofClan Fraser of Lovat. The former family seat wasBeaufort Castle in northern Scotland. The numbering of the Scottish Lordship used by Clan Fraser of Lovat differs from the legal numbering in that it ignores the attainder of 1747–1854, with the result that the 16th Lord is termed by them "18th Lord Lovat".[3][4][5]
19th century historiansJohn Anderson, writing in 1825, andAlexander Mackenzie, writing in 1896, list the Lairds of Lovat as follows,[6][7] but this is different to modern research as given by the Clan Fraser of Lovat organization.[8]
James Balfour Paul writing in 1908 in hisThe Scots Peerage gives the following Fraser Lairds of Lovat before the family succeeded as Lords Lovat:[9]
The modern Clan Fraser of Lovat records the Lairds of Lovat as follows:[8]
Mackenzie also records the names of the subsequent Lords Lovat differently,[7] when compared to the accepted modern version given below.[8] Anderson lists the same lineage as given below, but his designation of which sons actually succeeded to the title of the Lordship is different,[6] when compared to the accepted modern version given below.[8]Bernard Burke, in his 1869A Genealogical And Heraldic Dictionary of The Peerage And Baronetage of The British Empire, lists the first two Lords as Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat and Hugh Fraser, 2nd Lord Lovat with Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Lovat,[10] being the same person listed as Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat in the accepted modern version given below.[8][9] The Clan Fraser of Lovat organization also recognises the two sons of the 11th Lord Lovat, Simon and Archibald, as the 12th and 13th Lords Lovat respectively, ignoring the attainder for the 11th Lord having supported theJacobite rising of 1745 and therefore they recognize the current 16th Lord Lovat as the 18th Lord Lovat.[8] The following is also in accordance with James Balfour Paul's 1908 volume 5 ofThe Scots Peerage which lists the aforementioned Simon and Archibald as the "de jure" 12th and 13th Lords Lovat before reverting to Thomas Alexander Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat proper who was from theFraser of Strichen cadet branch.[9]
Theheir presumptive is the present holder's brother Hon. Jack Hugh Fraser, Master of Lovat (b. 1984)[citation needed]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)| King James II | | |
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| King James III | ||
| King James IV | ||
| Queen Mary I | ||
| King James VI | ||
| King Charles I | ||
| King Charles II | ||
| King William II &Queen Mary II | ||
