HUGH FRASER

BIRTH Born to Thomas Fraser, a dyer and also at one time a miller and Mary Elder, at 52 Tomnahurich Street, Inverness on 23 April 1868, he was one of several Hugh Frasers born in that Parish, that year, showing the popularity of a few Clan Fraser of Lovat names, such as Simon, Hugh and Thomas, that go back into Clan history for hundreds of years, thus giving genealogists a hard time, it's easier to find a Smith in Inverness, than a Fraser. My Great Grandfather had been employed as a dyer, miller and general labourer in his lifetime and my Great Grandmother was from a long established Inverness family.

YOUTH Hugh is next found in the 1881 census at 15 Telford Street, Inverness, which still stands, with his parents and 3 siblings, he's still at school, as is, interestingly, his 16 year old sister Ann and Donaldina must have been named after their Grandfather, Donald Fraser. Source: FHL Film 0203421 GRO Ref Volume 098 EnumDist 15 Page 23 Thomas FRASER M 46 M Inverness, Rel: Head Occ: Gen Lb Mary FRASER 50 F Inverness, Rel: Wife Alexander FRASER U 21 M Inverness, Rel: Son Occ: Tailor Ann FRASER 16 F Inverness, Rel: Daur Occ: Scholar Donaldina FRASER 14 F Inverness, Rel: Daur Occ: Millworker Hugh FRASER 12 M Inverness, Rel: Son Occ: Scholar
Whilst I haven't researched them, I believe he had another 4 siblings, Catherine b 1857, Mary Ann b 1861, Margaret, her twin and Mary b 1862. We also believe the family to be Gaelic speaking and the fact his parents, both from Inverness, were married in the East Free Church of Scotland, on the 26 December 1856, adds to this belief.

Granddad's Boer War Medals

There's a gap in the records till the 5th of January 1899 when Hugh enlisted in the Black Watch and went to the Boer War. It's always a puzzle as to why a Gaelic speaking Lovat Fraser would join a Scots speaking regiment from outside its traditional area, although there is an historic link, an entire company of the original regiment was formed in 1716 by The Old Fox himself, the 11th Lord Lovat, then in usual controversial manner, he was removed but reappointed and raised a new company in 1725, of what was then called the Independent Highland Companies. However, in Granddad's "Militia Attestation" form, he does state he previously served in the Royal Highlanders i.e. the Black Watch, before and his roll number of 7047 may show an enrolment of about 1885. If he was a career soldier for part of the missing 17 years, then before the war the battalion was in Dublin in December 1886 on garrison duty, September 1888 Belfast, April 1891 Limerick, January 1893 Glasgow, 1894 Edinburgh, 1896 York, 1898 Aldershot, 2 January 1900, sailed for South Africa from either Portsmouth or Dublin.

ARMY RECORD His 5th January 1889 Militia Attestation or enrolment form shows him to be living at 4 Duff Street, Inverness, where his parents died in 1902, so it looks like they had moved from Telford Street (1881 census) and he was living at the family home, was 30 years and 9 months, labouring for a Mr Connor, single no children and was enrolling in the 3rd Battalion Royal Highlanders, Perth, as a militiaman, for a minimum of 4 years. He was 5'6, 140 lbs, fresh complexion and brown hair. Hugh's Statement of Services states, 3rd Royal Highland Reenlisted 19/6/99, Militia Reserve 4/7/99, embodied 14/12/99 to 25/8/1902, posted with the 2nd Battalion 3/1/1900 to 25/8/02. Sometimes the handwriting is difficult to read but one note seems to read, 3rd reformed after SA (I assume South Africa) 25/8/1902 disembodied, then this is covered with another note that could say he was paid his Hats? Gratuity for months of August September 02. Then in flowing handwriting on behalf of his Adjutant, "Discharged Ter. of Engl, 4/1/03. Character - Very sm," whatever that means. Finally, his Military History Sheet also gives his service abroad, Rank-Private, in South Africa, from 3/1/1900 to 25/8/02, including embarkation and disembarkation, so he'd been away when his mother died on 29th April 1902. The sections on wounds, injuries, gallant conduct are blank, obviously a sensible man.

He was in F Company, one of eight in the Battalion when it sailed at the start of 1900. He always shows the rank of private and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with bars: Paardeberg, Driefontain, Cape Colony, Transvaal South Africa 1901, 1902 (each bar represents an action or series of actions, in which the recipient took part). He also received the King's South Africa Medal. (Medal roll of The Black Watch 1801-1911 p216).

Granddad in F Co. football team, second from left, sitting on bench

Playing cards, in F Co., third from left, sitting

BOER WAR 1899-1902: I've no idea what exactly he did in the war and can only give an overview of what happened, it was an unjust war, with one powerful country wanting an excuse to seize rich natural assets, this time gold, which is still being repeated in history, to this day, so little lessons were learnt. Black Africans fought on both sides with promises of reward, for after the war but received none. On 11 December 1899, after war was declared on the 11 October, the British Army, under the incompetent General Methuen, suffered a defeat at Magersfontein. The Black Watch, as did the rest of the Highland Brigade, fought bravely but the Boers were fighting for their lands and held against a more powerful force. There was a battle at Koodoesberg on 18th February 1900, where 2,400 Boers were captured, the Battalion entered Bloemfontein on the 15 March and soon after new recruits arrived, doubling the strength of the Battalion from 450. In May they were besieged at Heilbron but the poaching skills of the Lovat Scouts, the Fraser mounted regiment, kept them fed and was equal to any mounted Boer.

After the fall of Pretoria, the Boer capital, on 5 June, the Black Watch were allocated to "pacification duties" in the Orange Free State and by August they had covered 1,000 miles on foot with 2,000 ahead of them, whilst the enemy fought a mounted guerrilla war, with constant sniping and long range bombardment. Although, in July they had been involved in some fierce fighting leading to the capture or death of 4,000 Boers at Retiefs Nek. In October the tactics were changed to "cordoning off" and the Black Watch joined a cordon near Ladybrand, they were transported by train after all that marching, did this little luxury lead to Hugh working on the railway later in life? They spent the next year there, 2 months in Natal, then moved to Harrismith, where, for a short time, the 1st Battalion, that had been in India, joined them. On 31st May 1902, the Boers finally surrendered, there had never been more than 65,000 of them, against 440,000 men from throughout the Empire. Concentration camps were also used against civilians, using an idea previously tested by the Americans.

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MARRIAGE He married Jessie (Janet) Duff, (born Aberdeen 27 August 1868) under special licence, at 94 Castle Street, Dennistoun Glasgow, 17th October 1902, he was a railway labourer and she could've been working at Glenco, Bearsden, as he sent her his medals there. They have both their addresses on the marriage certificate as 276 Castle Street, Glasgow and looking at Granddad's discharge date of the 25th August, he must have gone up to Glasgow, after disembarkation, got a job and got married in under two months, no mean feat in those days, so it must have been love. I've no proof how an Invernessian met this Aberdonian in 19th century Scotland but I have a strong theory. Jessie had a brother Alexander, there is an A Duff who enrolled in the Black Watch about the same time as Granddad and there is some family anecdotal evidence about an uncle being in the army and forever getting promoted and demoted, like a yoyo, so if this A Duff is the brother, then, that's how they met.

My Grandparents returned to Inverness, where daughter Jessie (she later married a Dave Reston) was born on 6 June 1904 and son Thomas, my father, in 25 January 1906, at 18 Duff Street (my brother and I always thought dad was pulling our legs, by claiming to be born on Burns Day), Hugh signed the birth certificate so he was still in Inverness in 1906. The next record was a picture post card to Grandma's brother Alexander Duff, at 24 Allan Street, Aberdeen (later to become our family home for 40 years) from Hugh in Miniota, Manitoba, Canada, June 1908. He was away from his family, working, laying the Grand Trunk Railway (Pacific?), which was merged into the Canadian National Railways, by the Canadian Government in the 1920s, due to the bankruptcy of a number of railways and is now their main transcontinental line.

MINIOTA, CANADA The following information was given to me by Eleanor O'Callaghan who was the Treasurer of the local Museum. Miniota was first settled in 1879 and later became a Municipality, it must have been a very small place in 1908, the name is Sioux, "minnie", meaning water and "ota", plenty. The first train went through Miniota to Melville, Saskatchewan in September 1908 and a daily passenger service established, which fits with the dates of Hugh working there. The notes below are interesting, along with the photo above, that shows a track laying machine near Miniota in 1906, very similar to the one in the Post Card sent to Aberdeen,
Notes supplied by a Mr. McConnell: "Wages on railroad- $1.25 for a ten hour day, ordinary labor and board. There was a camp and a camp cook. Food was mostly shipped in. $50 a month for foreman under the walking boss, he was offered $75 a month the next year. Uno, a cut sixty-nine feet deep, was filled using wheelbarrows, carts and scrapers. The carts were one horse drawn. The only mechanization was a steam shovel which dumped the fill into a chute. This steam shovel came up to Miniota on the C.P.R and was taken out at Miniota on a track laid ahead of it, picking up the back sections and laying them ahead. It was fired with coal. The dirt froze so hard that the steam shovel dug it up In Such big lumps they would upset the little carts, so it quit at Miniota and moved into cut at Arrow River."

Granddad kneeling, by the tracklayer 1908

Granddad sitting bottom right, with workmates in Miniota

LATER LIFE We know Hugh returned to Scotland, our first known place is Fordoun, near Brechin, my late cousin Nancy had a book that her mum Jessie Reston was given at school there and dad also told me about it. Nancy thought our Granddad was a signalman at some point (maybe his final illness took him to a less strenuous job) but he was classed as a Wagon Repairer, on his death certificate. The next place we have the family, is Addiewell and I'd guess he would have been working for London Midland Scottish Railways, as they had lines in Fordoun and near Addiewell. He died at, Brucehill, Addiewell, West Calder, Midlothian, Scotland, aged 48, with Carcinoma of Stomach, lasting eight months, on 8 June 1916 and is buried at West Calder Cemetery. Neither Hugh or his wife Jessie, who was buried in Aberdeen, alongside her brother and sister-in-law, Mary Ann Copeland, had headstones but one was placed at Hugh's grave by my Reston cousins and my brother Colin and I put a vase on our grandmother's. We've often wondered whether it was simple poverty or some religious reason that no headstones were erected and it remains an unsolved puzzle.

Hugh Fraser not only worked around Scotland but worked his way to the centre of Canada, served years as a soldier, marched thousands of miles, fought a major war in South Africa but died at an early age of cancer. His wife Jessie Duff lived on for another 42 years, almost the equivalent of another lifetime, by Hugh's standards. There's no one alive, now, who knew him, so I hope this is a fitting tribute to my Granddad.

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