The Roll Leopold de Lisle, or Compagnion de Lisle de Conqueror, is a Roll of those who supposedly came over with William the Conqueror and possibly, fought at the Battle of Hastings. It is interesting the number of names that are now Scots families, of great note. There was a Richard Fresle and with mediaeval spelling it is likely this name could be what we now know as Fraser but from that point in time little is known of our Clan History till a Simon Fraser. Simon Fraser made a gift of a church at Keith in East Lothian to the monks at Kelso Abbey, around 1160 and this seems to be their first appearance in Scotland. The Frasers moved into Tweedale, in the Scottish borders in the 12th and 13th centuries and then into the counties of Stirling, Angus, Inverness and Aberdeen. Around five generations later, the Patriot, Sir Simon Fraser, was captured fighting for the cause of Robert the Bruce, he was held at the Tower of London and was executed with great cruelty by Edward I on 7th September, 1306. His head was then put on display at London Bridge beside the head of Sir William Wallace, the Patriot's line ended in two co-heiresses. Sir Andrew Fraser of Touch-Fraser (d.1297), a close relation of the Patriot, was the father of Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie (ancestor of the Frasers of Philorth) and Sir Simon Fraser (ancestor of the Frasers of Lovat), Sir Andrew Fraser and Sir James Fraser. Sir Alexander was killed at the Battle of Dupplin in 1332 and his three younger brothers were killed at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333 but despite these disasters and many more in later times, Clan Fraser survives as one of Scotland's greatest Clans.

FRASERS OF PHILORTH - LORDS SALTOUN

The Senior line is descended from Sir Alexander Fraser, who took part in the victory at Bannockburn in 1314. In 1316 he married Robert the Bruce's widowed sister, Lady Mary, who had been imprisoned in a cage by Edward I. Sir Alexander was appointed Chamberlain of Scotland in 1319, and his seal appears on the letter to the Pope dated 6th April, 1320, known as The Declaration of Arbroath, seeking recognition of the country?s political independence under the kingship of Robert Bruce. Sir Alexander's grandson, Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie and Durris, acquired the Manor Place (later to become Cairnbulg Castle) and lands of Philorth by marriage with Lady Johanna, younger daughter and co-heiress of the Earl of Ross. According to a prophecy of Thomas the Rhymer: While a cock craws in the north, there'll be a Fraser at Philorth. Several generations later, Sir Alexander Fraser, 8th laird of Philorth [c.1536-1623] founded Fraser's Burgh by Royal Charters obtained in 1592 and built Fraserburgh Castle (now Kinnaird Head Lighthouse). His eldest son, Alexander Fraser, 9th laird of Philorth [c.1570-1636) married in 1595 Margaret, heiress of the Abernethies, Lord Saltoun. In 1668 their son, Alexander Fraser, 10th of Philorth [1604-1693] also became 10th Lord Saltoun. The present Chief of the Name of Fraser is Flora Marjory Fraser, 20th Lady Saltoun, who is an active member of the House of Lords.

FRASERS OF LOVAT - LORDS LOVAT

The Frasers of Lovat descend from Sir Simon Fraser [brother of Sir Alexander the Chamberlain] who married Lady Margaret Sinclair, daughter of the Earl of Caithness. Documents dated 12th September, 1367, connect a Fraser with the lands of Lovat and the Aird. Among the lands acquired by the Lovat Frasers, the prominent ones were in Stratherrick, which was very dear to the hearts of the Lovat chiefs, the church lands of Beauly Priory in Inverness-shire, part of the south shore of Beauly Firth and the whole of Strathfarrar. About 1460 Hugh Fraser, 6th Laird of Lovat [c.1436-1501] became the 1st Lord Lovat. Several generations later, Hugh Fraser, 9th Lord Lovat [1666-1696] who had four daughters but no son, willed his estates to his grand-uncle, Thomas Fraser of Beaufort, instead of his eldest daughter, Amelia [1686-1763] Thomas Fraser?s second son, Simon, later 11th Lord Lovat, had planned to marry the Lovat heiress, Amelia, but the plan failed, and in retaliation, Simon forcibly married her mother, the dowager Lady Lovat (the marriage was later annulled.) The 11th Lord Lovat "The Fox" plotted with both Government and Jacobite forces, and was the last nobleman to be beheaded on Tower Hill, London, in 1747. The Lovat title was attained by an Act of Parliament, and the estates forfeited to the Crown. In 1774 the forfeited lands were restored to his eldest son, Lt-General Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat, but not the title. The original line ended with the death in 1815 of the Master?s younger half-brother, Archibald, without legitimate surviving issue. The estates passed to the nearest collateral heir-male, Thomas Alexander Fraser, 10th laird of Strichen, Aberdeenshire, who in 1837 was created Baron Lovat in the Peerage of the U.K, and the attainder of the Scottish title was reversed in 1857, when he became 14th Lord Lovat. With the death of the 17th Lord Lovat in 1995, aged 83, his grandson, Simon Fraser, born in 1977, became the 18th Lord Lovat and 25th MacShimi, the Chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat.

For more information on the later history of the Clan and all things Fraser, visit the Clan Fraser Society of Scotland and UK's website, or go to the Links Page where you'll find links to many other Fraser sites.

SEPTS OF CLAN FRASER
Are you a member of Clan Fraser? In addition to Fraser, many other surnames are associated with the clan and are known as Septs. A surname can be associated with more than one clan, depending on the area in which they lived but historically, nearly all of these are purely Fraser. These names include those on the following list, with many variations in spelling.
BISSET, BREWSTER, COWIE, FREW, FRIZELL, MacGRUER, MacKIM, MacKIMMIE, MacSIMON, MacTAVISH, OLIVER, SIM, SIMON, SIMS, SIMPSON, SYME, TWADDLE, TWEEDIE.
Septs are a difficult subject but the Clan Fraser site (see links for CFSSUK) is trying to clarify this with an article on Tweedie and another, to come, on Simpson and MacKimmie.

Finding information on Barron Clan History has the Hens Teeth Syndrome, put Clan Barron into a search engine and you certainly get some weird results, including Mexican cowboy singers. Authorities can't seem to agree, some putting us as from Angus, others Aberdeenshire and Inverness-shire but it's also a name I've come across in France, there's been Barrons in England for several centuries, an old Itlaian connection and there have been Barrons in Ireland for several centuries. The name could be from the Gaelic baruinn, a small landowner, the title Baron is from the Latin "baro" meaning servan or man, I also know people who claim it's from Scots barroned-out, meaning barred-out i.e. barred, possibly from a town and how do these tie in with the French Connection? So far I can find only three facts or sources of agreement on the name, a/ If you look at a demographic map, such as CASA you will find a high concentration of Barrons in the North East and around Inverness, b/ The Barron Clan is a Sept of Clan Rose, c/ Information on clan Septs can be very hard to find. It's not very encouraging and all I feel I can do is outline what I know about Barron history and hope people will enter the debate or come up with some information but please note some of the information I have is speculation. although, the most useful link I've found is on Electric Scotland.

1. We, or at least most Scots Barrons are a Sept of Clan Rose.
2. There is a large Barron population originating in the North East, my own family seemed to have self populated Marnoch, in old Banffshire, judging by their numbers and half of Rosemount in Aberdeen.
3. There's a large population originating in Inverness-shire e.g. there's a large number of Barrons buried in the Kirkyard of the Wardlaw Mausoleum, near Beauly, where the old chiefs of Clan Fraser of Lovat are buried. The body of Simon Fraser 11th Lord Lovat, the Old Fox, last person to be beheaded near the Tower of London, is claimed to be secretly buried there.
4. There is a Fraser connection, how large it is I don't know but quite a coincidence for me, part goes back to 1746 and Culloden thus the barroned-out of Fraser(s) mentioned earlier, who fought at the battle. There's also a 13th century link between the Bissets and Clan Rose, Bisset is a Sept of Clan Fraser. There's more information on the Fraser connection at the previously mentioned Electric Scotland link.
5. Baron is a place name and a surname in France, is there a Norman connection?
6. There's a number of Barrons in Ireland but were they Scots migrants or Normans?
7. I was once told a Jewish man settled in Aberdeen, in the 13th century, bringing the name to the area and I believe there is a large Jewish Barron community, in London.
8. I know of Barrons in England from the 1600s but how long were they there and is there a Scots connection at all?

I hope this is of interest and I look forward to any response, please feel free to Email me.

CLAN ROSE

Clan Rose, is descended from Hugh Rose of Geddes who was witness to the foundation of the Priory of Beauly in 1219. There does seem to have been strong connections with the de Boscos and the de Bissets. In 1290, Hugh Rose of Geddes's son Hugh, acquired the lands of Kilravock by marriage to Marie, daughter of Elizabeth de Bisset and Andrew de Boscothey, they made their home at Kilravock. When Hugh, the fourth of Kilravock married Janet Chisholm, he also acquired lands at Strathnairn. When the family lost all the family's writs and charters in a fire, John, son of the fifth of Kilravock, had to reconstruct the family's titles to the landholdings and obtain charters from James I, the Earl of Ross and the Chisholm. Around 1460, the seventh Baron built the Tower of Kilravock.
The Roses supported the Reformation, and even though they had good relations with the Stewarts, the thirteenth Baron opposed the religious policies of Charles I. They were loyal to the government during the Revolution and the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745. Hugh, the 12 of Kilravock, voted against the Union of 1707, but was one of the commissioners to represent Scotland in the first British parliament.
J. A. Rose was an extraordinary player in the French Revolution, he was born in Scotland in 1757 and went to Paris in his early years. He became closely involved with distinguished figures of that eventful era. Kilravock Castle is still the seat of Clan Rose.

SEPTS OF CLAN ROSE
BARRON, BARON, GEDDES, ROSS.