Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat

Last updated

Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat
Bornc. 1436
Diedc. 1500/c. 1501
Title Lord (Fraser) of Lovat
Predecessornew creation
Successor Thomas Fraser, 2nd Lord Lovat
SpouseVioletta Lyon
ParentThomas Fraser of Lovat

Early life

According to James Balfour Paul's 1908 volume 5 of The Scots Peerage , Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat was the son of Thomas Fraser of Lovat but it is not known who Thomas's wife was. Hugh succeeded his father before May 1455 and as a minor was put under the care of Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray (d. 1455). [1] Bernard Burke, in his 1869 A Genealogical And Heraldic Dictionary of The Peerage And Baronetage of The British Empire, designates the same Hugh Fraser as the 3rd Lord Lovat and says that he was the son of Hugh Fraser, 2nd Lord Lovat and his wife who was a sister of David Wemyss "Of that Ilk", and the grandson of Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat (died 1440) and his wife Janet who was a sister of William Fenton "Of that Ilk". [2] The family tree published by the modern Clan Fraser of Lovat organization agrees with James Balfour Paul in designating him as Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat and that he was the son of Thomas Fraser of Lovat. [3]

Contents

Lord Lovat

In 1450 his father sent him to be educated by the Earl of Moray. He was known to the Regent of Scotland who was then Duke of Albany when introduced and knighted by James II of Scotland and thence joined the Order of the Thistle. [4]

Hugh was summoned to Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat sometime between 1456 and 1464. [1] In 1464, he made an agreement with a kinsman, Alexander Fraser of Phillorth, that each would agree to support each other's surviving heir, depending on who died first. It recognised the perilous lifespan of a highlander in an age of bloody civil conflict. On 13 May 1471, the Court Auditor on behalf of Malcolm Fleming, 1st Lord Fleming ordered Hugh to pay for some land purchases granted two years previously. [4]

Hugh opposed the chaos in the Isles that led to James II's early death. The Lord of the Isles recruited Gallowglass mercenaries to plunder his lands, seize Inverness, march to Atholl and burn the Church of St Bride. His tenants laid siege to Lovat Castle, but his clan remained loyal, easily repelling the invasion. [4]

The MacDonalds victory at a battle at Caplach, west of Inverness returned peace to the glen of The Aird. On 31 March 1472, Hugh agreed to protect the citizens of the hill burgh of Nairn. He bought Oreland for 50 Merks off William Wallace of Craigie, and, planted some orchards. [4]

The late medieval period was lawless and violent, and after a period of peace, he was obliged to act for the King in the wars of the Lords of the Isles and his kinfolk. Clannish feuds broke out in Sutherland and Caithness. 18 peasants were killed in a dispute that burnt Beauly Priory. Some racial disputes between Norman and Flemish descendants of the feudal clan system were complicated by James III of Scotland's minority. Two years earlier he was party to a charter ratified on 28 February 1480. [4]

Hugh Fraser of Lovat was among the party of nobles who met the King when he crossed the Firth of Forth to Blackness, Falkirk in an effort to crush the rebellious incursions. The English defeated James, who was slain at Stirling before his loyal lords could intervene. Lovat lived to old age, but his favourite son was slain at the Battle of Flodden alongside James IV of Scotland. [4]

Family

Burke stated that he married Lady Margaret, daughter of the Earl of Glamis and was succeeded by his son, Thomas Fraser, 4th of Lovat. [2] However, according to James Balfour Paul, Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat married Violetta, daughter of Patrick Lyon, 1st Lord Glamis (d. 1459) and they had the following children: [1]

  1. Thomas Fraser, 2nd Lord Lovat (heir and successor).
  2. Margaret Fraser, married Hector de Kilmalew and had a son, Alexander.
  3. Egidia Fraser, who married Ferquhard Mackintosh, 12th of Mackintosh.

The modern Clan Fraser of Lovat organization states that Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat also had a son called Hugh Fraser from who descend the cadet branches, the Frasers of Fairfield, Merkinch, Aberchalder, Foyers, Kinmonarie, and Dunchea. [3]

According to James Balfour Paul, Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat died before 14 October 1501. [1]

Related Research Articles

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of AbercornPC (S) (1575–1618) was a Scottish diplomat for James VI and an undertaker in the Plantation of Ulster, Ireland.

William Sinclair (1410–1480), 1st Earl of Caithness (1455–1476), last Earl (Jarl) of Orkney, 2nd Lord Sinclair and 11th Baron of Roslin was a Norwegian and Scottish nobleman and the builder of Rosslyn Chapel, in Midlothian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Moray</span> Scottish noble title

The title Earl of Moray, or Mormaer of Moray, was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 the status of Moray's rulers was ambiguous and they were described in some sources as "mormaers", in others as "Kings of Moray", and in others as "Kings of Alba". The position was suppressed by David I of Scotland some time after his defeat of Óengus of Moray at the Battle of Stracathro in 1130, but was recreated as a feudal earldom by Robert the Bruce and granted to Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray in 1312.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Elgin</span> Title in the Peerage of Scotland

Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Bruce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Lovat</span> Scottish nobility title

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Hay</span> Scottish clan

Clan Hay is a Scottish clan of the Grampian region of Scotland that has played an important part in the history and politics of the country. Members of the clan are to be found in most parts of Scotland and in many other parts of the world. However, the North East of Scotland, i.e. Aberdeenshire (historic), Banffshire, Morayshire and Nairnshire Nairn (boundaries), is the heart of Hay country with other significant concentrations of Hays being found in Perthshire, especially around Perth, in the Scottish Borders, and in Shetland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Sutherland</span> Highland Scottish clan

Clan Sutherland also known as House of Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is the shire of Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. The chief of the clan was also the powerful Earl of Sutherland, however in the early 16th century this title passed through marriage to a younger son of the chief of Clan Gordon. The current chief is Alistair Sutherland who holds the title Earl of Sutherland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat</span> Scottish nobleman

Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat and 2nd Baron Lovat, was a British nobleman, landowner, and soldier. He was the 22nd Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat in the Scottish Highlands, and responsible for overseeing the reconstruction of Beaufort Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser of Strichen</span>

The Frasers of Strichen are a branch of the highland Clan Fraser of Lovat, which assumed the chiefship of the clan in the 19th century.

Thomas Alexander Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat and 1st Baron Lovat, was a Scottish nobleman. He was the 21st Chief MacShimidh of Clan Fraser of Lovat, succeeding to the title of his distant cousin, the 11th Lord Lovat, who had been attainted and executed as a Jacobite in 1747.

James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray was a Scottish nobleman and landowner.

Sir Alexander Home of that Ilk, 1st Lord Home was in 1448 Sheriff Deputy for Berwickshire, and was made a Lord of Parliament on 2 August 1473. He is an ancestor of the Earls of Home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Borthwick, 1st Lord Borthwick</span> Scottish peer and ambassador (1413-1483)

Sir William Borthwick, 3rd of Borthwick and later 1st Lord Borthwick was a Scottish peer and ambassador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Forbes</span> Highland Scottish clan

Clan Forbes is a Highland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Patrick Lyon, 1st Lord Glamis P.C. was a Scottish nobleman, created Lord Glamis on 28 June 1445.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexanders of Menstrie</span> Clan Alexander Origins, (1604)

The Alexanders of Menstrie, also known as the House of Alexander, are a sept of Clan MacAlister of Scotland. The family is said to descend from Somerled, Lord of the Isles. The seat of the clan was at Menstrie Castle in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire. Descendants of the Alexanders of Menstrie have become prominent in Ireland, England and the United States.

Thomas Fraser, 2nd Lord Lovat was a Scottish peer and Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat from c. 1500/c. 1501 until 1524. He was the only son of Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat and Violetta Lyon, daughter of Patrick Lyon, 1st Lord Glamis, through whom he was a great-great-great-grandson of Robert II.

Ferquhard Mackintosh, 12th of Mackintosh was the chief of the Clan Mackintosh, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. He was also chief of the confederation of clans known as the Clan Chattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Sutherland, 3rd of Duffus</span>

Alexander Sutherland, 3rd of Duffus was a Scottish member of the nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludovick Grant of Grant</span> Scottish politician and soldier

Ludovick Grant, 1st of Grant and 8th of Freuchie (1641–1717) was a Scottish politician and soldier. He was the 19th Chief of Clan Grant and referred to as the "Highland King."

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Paul, James Balfour (1908). "Fraser, Lord Fraser of Lovat". The Scots Peerage; Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical And Genealogical Account of The Nobility of That Kingdom. Vol. V. Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp.  522-523. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 Burke, Bernard (1869). A Genealogical And Heraldic Dictionary of The Peerage And Baronetage of The British Empire. 59 Pall Mall, London: Harrison. p.  712 . Retrieved 19 February 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. 1 2 "Clan Fraser in Scottish History" (PDF). clanfraser.org. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David, eds. (1990). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press.
Peerage of Scotland
New creation Lord Lovat
1458–c.1500
Succeeded by