Donald Fraser of North Uist

[cmcderment]

I'm researching an interesting ancestor who ended up in North Uist but wasn't originally from there.

He is mentioned in The Lyon in Mourning as having been a guide and interpreter in the Glenmoriston area with the Sleat Militia in 1746. He had a tack and a mill in North Uist (the tack of Orasay and the mill at Loch Nan Geirann) from then until probably around 1763. He even had poems (not very flattering ones) written about him by the local bard, Macodrum.

But I would dearly like to know where he came from before this. Fraser is not a local North Uist name and he is believed to have been one of the first "outsiders" to have been brought in as a tacksman.

If anyone has access to lists of Sleat Militia or any other documents that might help, I would really love to hear from you.

Many thanks.

[sheddyg]

I would love know if there were any children from Donald Fraser and Marion MacDonald?

[cmcderment]

Hi,
I'm intrigued. How do you know he married Marion Macdonald, as I don't think I put that in my original post.
I have found out a lot more about him since 2015! I've even had a small book printed about him.
Anyway, I do not believe there were any offspring from his marriage with Marion. She was probably too old to have children by the time she married Donald.
I have discovered children by Donald from a subsequent marriage, three girls and a boy, but the boy died young.
What I'm really interested in, is any children he may have had BEFORE he married Marion, perhaps by a previous marriage or illegitimate.
Do tell me what you know about him......

[sheddyg]

My 3xggrandmother is Elizabeth Ann Fraser b. 1795 Berbice Guyana. She married William Brunner in 1818 Birmingham England. I do not know who her parents were.
Through ancestry DNA I am connected via maternal side to many people (not many trees) but they all have Isle of Lewis in common some of them have 100% very recent ancestors from here, same family names crop up especially one line ‘Angus of the river MacDonald’.
I have been trying to find a connection between my Fraser and the Isle of Lewis. I am sure it is my Fraser line because all other lines can be traced further back to other areas in England.
I googled and found this thread on roots chat that looks like ‘Angus of the river’ McDonald’s grandmother (likely wife of Ranald MacDonald)may have been widowed and subsequently married a Fraser.
So thought I would investigate this theory further.
I realise this thread is from 2015 and a lot can change in that time so delighted that you have replied!
*sorry if I have confused things, the original post I saw was ‘Ranald MacDonald of Baleshare, North Uist, about 1750.

[cmcderment]

Hi, how lovely to make contact, even after all this time.
If you have a Fraser ancestor from Berbice, I can tell you that there were lots of Frasers involved out in Guyana.
The Frasers of Gortleg (an area on the south banks of Loch Ness) had Berbice connections. James Fraser, Writer to the Signet (a sort of lawyer in those days) was the guardian of my Donald Fraser's three late children, and I suspect (but cannot prove) he was a cousin to my Donald Fraser.
Anyway, James Fraser 1729 - 1805 had a brother, Simon, (I think) who went out to Guyana to make money. That's just one example. There were two other Fraser branches involved out there: the Frasers of Belladrum, and the Frasers of Reelig. Both of those branches were also from the Loch Ness area. There were several other Fraser families who were out in that area of the world and may have passed through Guyana.
You might be connected to any of those. You might want to look for a book called Slaves and Highlanders by David Alston. It has a lot about Frasers in Berbice.

The name Fraser is not a Lewis name any more than it was a North Uist name. It is definitely from the Inverness / Loch Ness area. Any Frasers in Lewis in the 18th century would have stood out like a sore thumb and were probably brought there by McLeod to be tacksmen.

As for the Baleshare connection, Marion Macdonald married Ranald Macdonald of Baleshare (previously of Skye - he was the First of Baleshare, which is off North Uist). Ranald had at least five children, three boys, Hugh, (who succeeded him in Baleshare), Ranald (who doesn't appear to have any children) and Donald Roy and at least two girls, all born before 1742, when Ranald died. Donald Roy had a chequered history during the Jacobite uprisings and appears to have emigrated to North America. Marion's marriage to Baleshare was her second but in her first marriage she only had girls. By the time she married my Donald, she was at least over 40 and more probably around 60, and there is no record of her having any children by him.

If any of this makes any sense to you, do get back in touch and we can see if I can help any further.

[sheddyg]

Thank you so much for your very interesting reply. Elizabeth Anne Fraser’s history has been my brick wall for so long! and now with DNA her apparent link to the Isle of Lewis is very intriguing…I suppose I’ll just have to keep on digging 😁

[cmcderment]

Glad to be of assistance. As I say, I would look for the book I suggested. You may well find some clues there.
I'll be interested to know if you find out any more.
Good luck,
Christine

[criochtun]

Feasgar math!

Greetings from the Outer Hebrides - but Eriskay, rather than North Uist. I am trying to solve a DNA puzzle and came across your post. I have a number of DNA matches in North Uist, all of whom seem to descend from a Fraser family there; some of them drifted southwards to Flodda in Benbecula and to South Uist. My only Fraser connection is through ancestors of my paternal grandfather in the mainland, outside of Inverness - Frasers of Culmiln and Kiltarlity area. I was wondering if you were able to trace the origins of the Donald Fraser who was a Jacobite scout and who ended up in North Uist? I am thinking he may be related to the Culmiln branch of the Frasers and that would solve the DNA puzzle. Any information you have on the early origins of Donald Fraser before he came to Uist would be really helpful! Thanks.

[cmcderment]

And Feasgar math to you too.
How exciting. Thank you so much for getting in touch.
To be honest, I have never heard of Culmiln but now intend to investigate.

I'm afraid I never did find out where my Donald Fraser was from, but Kiltarlity is a strong possibility.

 I believe, but cannot yet prove, that one of his cousins lived there, an Alexander Fraser, married to Catherine Chisholm (sister of Donald Chisholm, with whom Donald Fraser had business dealings in Arisaig). Alexander and Catherine had a son called Thomas, who would therefore have been Donald Fraser's nephew and who in turn was in business with Donald Chisholm's son, and his cousin, Alexander Chisholm.
Alexander Fraser had been a tenant farmer in Phoenas (found in various spellings) in Kiltarlity parish and died before 1786.

Sorry, that's probably all a bit confused.

If you have any family trees of the Culmiln branch, I would be extremely interested in seeing them. I have been working for years to find out where Donald came from originally. I have the names of three of his male cousins from a petition of 1768, Alexander, Angus and James, who were all alive in 1768.

Just as a word of warning, there were later Fraser incomers to North Uist, including a teacher and his family.

I have also done a DNA test with Ancestry but it threw up no obvious Fraser connections who could help me. It would be interesting however to compare your Uist DNA connections with mine, to see if any of them match.

I do know that a son of one of my uncles moved to South Uist and has a family there, and further afield, some of whom came up in the Ancestry DNA matches.

Also, I did self-publish a slim volume on my research, a copy of which I sent to Taigh Chearsabhagh in Lochmaddy, entitled A Man in my Head. You might be able to read it there.

So many questions! I look forward to further exchanges.

Oidhche math,
Christine