Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry

The Frasers
Page 1

John Fraser was my great great grandfather on my mother's side. He was the second of a line of John Frasers. Researching a name like John Fraser in Scotland is not easy and it has taken me a long time to get as far as I have ! For details of my earlier Fraser generations, please click on the following link:

John Fraser was born about 1848 in Daviot Inverness-shire, Scotland. I haven't managed to find any record of his baptism yet, so I don't know the exact year of his birth, but on his mother's death certificate in 1855 he is listed as aged six and a half. In 1861 he was living in Boleskine with his widowed father, John Fraser, and older sister Eliza, who was acting as housekeeper. By 1871 John had moved in with his married sister and her husband Roderick Douglas in Dores, along with two other of his siblings. The table below gives a transcription from the 1871 census:

John Fraser seems to have moved about a bit, possibly to find work. When he registered his father's death in 1872, he was said to be living in Edinburgh. But by 1879 he must have moved to Longside in Aberdeenshire, where he met and married his first wife Eliza Ann Cooper. John was working as a shepherd and it may have been the search for employment that took him to Longside. His younger brother, Alexander Fraser, was already living in the area and had married in Longside in 1875.

In the 1881 census John & Eliza Ann are living at 6 Mount Street West, Aberdeen, with their baby son John Fraser - my great grandfather. John Fraser senior was still working as a shepherd and the family was said to have one room with one window. John Fraser was also said to be a Gaelic speaker. The family must have almost immediately moved to Glasgow, because by the time their second son George was born, they were living in Govan. A third son, Roderick Douglas Fraser was born in July 1884, presumably named after John's brother-in-law with whom he had lodged those years ago. Sadly Eliza died only a week after the birth of her third son, leaving John with 3 small boys to bring up. Unfortunately poor little Roderick died just a week or so after his mother, cause of death described simply as debility from birth.

John Fraser then met and married Catherine Shaw in 1886, but again he seems to have been unlucky in his choice of wife ! Sadly Catherine died in Govan on 27th September 1888 having given birth to a son, William Shaw Fraser, eight days earlier. So John Fraser must once again have been left with three small boys to raise alone, something that would have been very difficult in those days. John seems to have done the only sensible thing at the time and given his sons to his sisters to look after. In the 1891 census John junior & George were living in Lasswade with their aunt Jessie & her husband, Roderick Douglas. William Shaw Fraser seems to have gone to live with his uncle & aunt, Joseph & Ann Todd (nee Fraser), also in Lasswade. Sadly William succumbed to whooping cough and died there aged only 2 in 1890.

Ever the optimist it seems, John senior married again in 1891 to Isabella Grant McDonell. So far I've found the births of 4 of their children. When George Fraser died in 1935, his death was registered by a Jean Fraser, who was described as his step-sister, so I think she must be another daughter of John Fraser & Isabella, but I've yet to find a birth for her. In the 1901 census, John & Isabella and all his surviving children, including the younger John and George, were living together at 25 Ann Street, Glasgow. The table below gives the details from the 1901 census.

John Fraser died in 1909, aged 56 according to his death certificate, but he must have been a good few years older than that. His third wife Isabella, outlived him and at least 4 of her children. At some point she moved down to the Stockport area in Cheshire, possibly to be near her step-son John Fraser. Isabella lived to the grand old age of 91, dying in 1948. The informant on her death certificate was J.B.G Gresty described as her daughter. So far I haven't been able to find anything more about J. Gresty other than this brief mention of her on the certificate. Was she the same person as the Jean Fraser who was the informant at George Fraser's death? Both mother and daughter were said to be living at 23 Beech Avenue, Hazel Grove in 1948, but that's as much as I know.

	The younger John Fraser married my great grandmother Grace Johnstone on 15th October 1906 in Glasgow, with his brother George as a witness. For more information on the Johnstones, please click the following link: When John & Grace got married, he had her wedding ring inscribed with "JF to GTMJ". I still have this ring, here is a photograph of the inscription.
John Fraser 1880-1923

Their first 3 children were born in Glasgow, before the family moved south to Stockport, where John worked for an engineering firm, Mirlees, Bickerton & Day. John must have had fond memories of his time spent living with his uncle, as he named his youngest son after him - Roderick Douglas Fraser. The family lived for many years at 1 Castle Farm Lane, Great Moor, Stockport. John died in Stockport at the relatively young age of 42. He seems to have been well liked and respected in the neighbourhood, the newspaper report of his death described him as "widely known and esteemed in the district, his courteous and genial disposition having gained him many friends." Indeed one of his co-workers even wrote a poem in his memory which was printed in the paper - In Memory of Johnny Fraser. For a full transcription of the poem, please click here

The four Fraser children, from left: Roderick Douglas "Doug", Grace, John Norman "Jack" and Dorothy

His eldest daughter Dorothy (my grandmother) married Leslie James in 1931 in Stockport. Leslie James was a Master Butcher and had his own shop for many years. For more information on them, please follow this link:

John Norman Fraser (Uncle Jack as I remember him) never married, but spent much of his life living with my grandparents. Grace Fraser married Jim Burdett, but sadly they both died during the Second World War. The youngest of the family Dougie Fraser was a keen sportsman. He played football for Hazelgrove Celtic and died on the pitch after being struck in the chest by the ball, aged only 38. Doug had only been married a short time to Anne Elizabeth Mulholland Cromie and left behind a small daughter.

Dorothy Fraser	Doug Fraser

The Fraser family seem to have been fond of Memorial Cards, as moving reminders of their loved ones, and two of these have survived.

The family tree below summarises what I know about the Fraser family. It is hopefully reasonably accurate, but if you spot any errors, or any relatives, please feel free to E-mail me

Please click on one of the red links on the tree to move to a different page.

Please click on one of the following links to move to a different page:

If any of the above is of further interest, please feel free to contact me at: n.rowberry@btinternet.com

Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry