The Lady Saltoun | |
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![]() Lady Saltoun in her Parliamentary Robes as a Peer | |
Member of the House of Lords | |
as a hereditary peer 3 December 1979 –11 November 1999 | |
Preceded by | The 20th Lord Saltoun |
Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
as an elected hereditary peer 11 November 1999 –12 December 2014 [1] | |
Election | 1999 |
Preceded by | Seat established |
Succeeded by | The 16th Earl of Kinnoull |
Personal details | |
Born | Marjorie Flora Fraser 18 October 1930 [2] Edinburgh,Scotland |
Spouse | |
Parent(s) | Alexander Fraser,20th Lord Saltoun Dorothy Geraldine Welby |
Marjorie Flora Fraser,21st Lady Saltoun [fn 1] [3] (born 18 October 1930) is a Scottish peer. Until her retirement on 12 December 2014,she was the only holder of a lordship of Parliament who had a seat in the House of Lords as an elected hereditary peer. Lady Saltoun is the Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Fraser since 1 May 1984,by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon. She is also the head of the Scottish lowland family the Frasers of Philorth.
Flora Fraser was born in Edinburgh,Scotland,as the daughter of Alexander Fraser and Dorothy Geraldine Welby. Her maternal grandfather was Charles Glynne Earle Welby,5th Baronet. She had an elder brother,Alexander Simon Fraser,Master of Saltoun. In 1933,her father became the 20th Lord Saltoun and she was styled the Hon. Flora Fraser. Her brother received the Military Cross and was killed in action in March 1944 while serving with the Grenadier Guards,making Flora heir presumptive to the Lordship. [4]
In 1979,when Lord Saltoun died,Flora became the 21st Lady Saltoun,and also gained a seat in the House of Lords. In 1999,because of the House of Lords Act 1999,662 hereditary peers were removed from the House. However,Lady Saltoun was one of the ninety hereditary peers who were elected to remain in the House.
On 6 October 1956 at Fraserburgh,Aberdeenshire,Lady Saltoun married Alexander Ramsay of Mar (1919–2000),a grandson of Prince Arthur,Duke of Connaught and Strathearn,keeping her maiden surname after marriage.
Saltoun's children are:
Captain Alexander Arthur Alfonso David Maule Ramsay of Mar DL was the only child of Princess Patricia of Connaught,who renounced her royal title and style when she married then-Captain the Hon. Alexander Ramsay in February 1919. His mother was the youngest child of Prince Arthur,Duke of Connaught,the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His father was the third son of John Ramsay,13th Earl of Dalhousie.
A Lord of Parliament was the holder of the lowest form of peerage,entitled as of right to take part in sessions of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland. Since that Union in 1707,it has been the lowest rank of the Peerage of Scotland,ranking below a viscount. A Lord of Parliament is said to hold a Lordship of Parliament.
Earl of Dalhousie,in the County of Midlothian,is a title in the Peerage of Scotland,held by the Chief of Clan Ramsay.
Earl of Haddington is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for the noted Scottish lawyer and judge Thomas Hamilton,1st Earl of Melrose. He was Lord President of the Court of Session from 1616 to 1625. Hamilton had already been created Lord Binning in 1613 and Lord Binning and Byres,in the County of Haddington,and Earl of Melrose,in the County of Roxburgh,in 1619. These titles were also in the Peerage of Scotland. The title of the earldom derived from the fact that he was in possession of much of the lands of the former Melrose Abbey. However,Hamilton was unhappy with this title and wished to replace it with "Haddington". In 1627 he relinquished the earldom of Melrose and was instead created Earl of Haddington,with the precedence of 1619 and with limitation to his heirs male bearing the surname of Hamilton. This derived from the fact that he considered it a greater honour to take his title from a county rather than from an abbey. Hamilton was a member of the prominent Scottish family of that name and descended from John de Hamilton,younger son of Walter de Hamilton,who was granted the feudal barony of Cadzow and who is also the ancestor of the Dukes of Hamilton and Dukes of Abercorn.
Lord Balfour of Burleigh,in the County of Kinross,is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1607 for Sir Michael Balfour.
Lord Saltoun,of Abernethy,is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1445 for Sir Lawrence Abernethy. The title remained in the Abernethy family until the death in 1669 of his descendant the tenth Lady Saltoun. She was succeeded by her cousin Alexander Fraser,the eleventh Lord. He was the son of Alexander Fraser and Margaret Abernethy,daughter of the seventh Lord Saltoun. The title has remained in the Frasers of Philorth family ever since.
Lord Lovat is a title of the rank Lord of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat,although the holder is referred to simply as Lord Lovat. It was a separate title from the Scottish 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 the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The holder is separately and independently the Chief of the highland Clan Fraser of Lovat.
Lord Napier,of Merchistoun,is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for Sir Archibald Napier,1st Baronet. Earlier that year,he already held the Napier Baronetcy,of Merchistoun in the County of Midlothian,created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. The titles remained united until 1683,when the Baronetcy became dormant. It was revived in the early 19th century and is now held by another branch of the Napier family. Between 1683 and 1686,the Lords of Napier also held the Nicolson Baronetcy,of Carnock in the County of Stirling,and since 1725 the Scott Baronetcy,of Thirlestane in the County of Selkirk,both baronetcies created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. The latter one is held till today. Additionally,the tenth Lord was created Baron Ettrick,of Ettrick in the County of Selkirk in the Peerage of the United Kingdom on 16 July 1872.
Baron Strathclyde is a title that has been created twice in British history,both times in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was first created on 15 January 1914 when the politician and judge Alexander Ure was made Baron Strathclyde,of Sandyford in Lanarkshire. This creation became extinct on his death in 1928.
Margaret Alison of Mar,31st Countess of Mar is a Scottish hereditary peer and politician. She was a crossbench member of the House of Lords from 1975 to 2020 and was one of 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the Lords in 1999. She is the holder of the original earldom of Mar,the oldest peerage title in the United Kingdom. She is the only suo jure countess and was the only female hereditary peer in the House of Lords from 2014 to 2020. She is also a farmer and former specialist goats cheesemaker in Great Witley,Worcestershire.
The heir apparent or heir presumptive to a Scottish peerage is known as a Master,or a Mistress if the heir is female. The heir's style is "The Master of [Peerage]" or "The Mistress of [Peerage]".
Katharine Fraser,Mistress of Saltoun,DL is the daughter of Captain Alexander Ramsay of Mar and Flora Fraser,21st Lady Saltoun.
Alexander Arthur Fraser,20th Lord Saltoun,styled Master of Saltoun until 1933,was a Scottish peer who was one of the longest-serving representative peers,serving from 1935 to 1963.
Alexander William Frederick Fraser,19th Lord Saltoun,a Scottish representative peer,was the son of Alexander Fraser,18th Lord Saltoun.
The Hereditary Peerage Association is a British representative body for hereditary peers in the United Kingdom formed in 2002 in the wake of the House of Lords Act 1999.
Alexander Fraser,11th Lord Saltoun,was a Scottish peer and the 10th Laird of Philorth.
Diana Denyse Hay,23rd Countess of Erroll was a British noblewoman.
Lieutenant-General Alexander George Fraser,17th Lord SaltounKStG KMT,was a Scottish representative peer and a British Army general who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and the First Opium War.
Hans James David Hamilton,4th Baron HolmPatrick is a British peer and Labour politician.
Aeneas Simon Mackay,15th Lord Reay,Baron Mackay,a Scottish lord and Dutch nobleman,is a British corporate financier who is also hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Mackay. In the Netherlands he is Lord of Ophemert and Zennewijnen,with castle Ophemert.