Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat

Lord Lovat in 1908.

Brigadier Simon Joseph Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat and 3rd Baron Lovat KT GCVO KCMG CB DSO (25 November 1871 – 18 February 1933), was a leading Roman Catholic aristocrat, landowner, soldier, politician and the 23rd Chief of Clan Fraser. He was the son of Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat, and Alice Mary Weld-Blundell. While legally the 14th Lord Lovat (and 3rd Baron Lovat), he was referred to as the 16th Lord.

Biography

Educated at Ampleforth and Oxford, he was an active member of the Oxford University polo team and left with an MA. Lord Lovat was commissioned into the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and promoted Lieutenant in 1890, but transferred as a Lieutenant into the 1st Life Guards in 1894.^[1] In 1897 he resigned from the Regular Army and joined a volunteer battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. In 1899 he raised the Lovat Scouts, and served as their second-in-command in the South African War, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1900. After the war he was appointed CVO in 1903 by Edward VII.^[2]

For the Lovat Scouts, he chose the best marksmen he could find and the perfect commander in the American, Frederick Russell Burnham, who served as Chief of Scouts to Lord Roberts, the British Army Commander-in-Chief.^[3] In World War I, he commanded the Highland Mounted Brigade of the 2nd Mounted Division, being promoted Brigadier-General in September 1914. He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1915 for demonstrable leadership and courage.

In March 1916 he took command of the 4th Mounted Division and became a Major General two months later.^[4] He became a Rhodes Trustee in 1917, the same year as Rudyard Kipling.

Awarded KCMG in 1919, he was appointed Army Director of Forestry: apart from a military career Lovat was also Chairman of the Forestry Commission from 1919 to 1927 and served in the Conservative administration of Stanley Baldwin as Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from 1927 to 1929.^[5]

Lovat died in February 1933, aged 61, and was succeeded by his eldest son Simon as the 15th Lord Lovat (known as the 17th Lord), who distinguished himself during the D-Day landings at Normandy in June 1944. His younger son Sir Hugh Fraser was a successful politician and first husband of author Antonia Fraser.

Family

Lovat married Hon. Laura Lister, daughter of Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale, in 1910; they had five children:

1. Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, Master of Lovat (1911-1933) and 15th Lord Lovat (1933-1995) (9 July 1911-16 March 1995)
2. Hon. Magdalen Mary Charlotte Fraser (1 August 1913-27 September 1969) Married John Scott, 4th Earl of Eldon (29 March 1899-20 October 1976); they had 3 children: John Joseph Nicholas Scott, 5th Earl of Eldon (b. 24 April 1937) and Hon. Simon Peter Scott (b. 13 September 1939). Died at the age of 56.
3. Hon. Sir Hugh Charles Patrick Joseph Fraser (23 January 1918-6 March 1984) Married Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Pakenham on 25 September 1956; they dissolved their marriage in 1977 after having six children: Rebecca Rose Fraser (b. 4 May 1957), Flora Fraser (b. 30 October 1958), Benjamin Hugh Fraser (b. 28 March 1961), Natasha Fraser (b. 1963), Damian Fraser (b. 1964), and Orlando Fraser (b. 1967). Sir Hugh died at the age of 66 from lung cancer.
4. Hon. Veronica Nell Fraser (1920-27 January 2005); died at age 85.
5. Hon. Mary Diana Rose "Rose" Fraser (15 April 1926-31 August 1940); died at age 14.

References

1. "Polo Monthly" (PDF). June 1918: 17. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
2. Burke's Peerage (2003), volume 2, p.2415
3. Mason, Fergus (2013). The American Sniper: A History of America's Shadow Warriors. Absolute Crime Books. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. Chapter 6. ISBN 978-1-49-095652-7.
4. Becke, A.F. (1945). History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions: Territorial Force & Mounted Divisions Pt. 2A. London HMSO.
5. Burke's Peerage (2003) vol.2, p.2415

Bibliography

• Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David (editors) (1990). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. New York: St Martin's Press.
• Dictionary of National Biography

External links

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• ThePeerage.com

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