Description Frasers of Lorne

A Bit of Family History

William Fraser Sr. was teh son of James Fraser "Lord Lovat" of Beaufort Castle, Inerness Shire, Scotland. He was born in Scotland about 1760. He fought with Colonel Simon Fraser "Master of Lovat", in the reginment of Fraser Highlanders, on the Plains of Abraham, (Quebec), during Wolfe's Campaign. He also fought at the seige of Louisburg, Cape Breton Island. 

William Sr, and his first wife, Marion (Nee Marion Fraser), came to Nova Scotia in 1801. They brought six children with them. In 1811, William Sr. and his son, William Jr., received land grants from King George III of England, totalling 420 acres, in "Big Brook", now called Lorne. William Sr. ad Marion had three more children while living in Lorne, namely Alexander, James and Simon. Marion was very unhappy in Canada, so about 1814 or 1815, William took her back to Scotland. Marion became ill and subsequently died in Scotland. Later William married again to Marion MacKinnon who came from the Isle of Skye. They returned to Nova Scotia in 1822. William died at their home in Lorne in 1828. It is believed by descendents still living in Nova Scotia (1988), that William Sr. and Marion are buried in the old Pioneer Cemetry, in Elgin, in an unmarked grave near the gravesite of William Jr. 

by Peggy Bentley, Halifax NS