Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat

Brigadier-General Simon Joseph Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat and 3rd Baron Lovat KT, GCVO, KCMG, CB, DSO (25 November 1871-18 February 1933), was a leading Roman Catholic aristocrat, landowner, soldier, politician and the 23rd Chief of Clan Fraser. He was the son of Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat, and Alice Mary Weld-Blundell. While legally the 14th Lord Lovat (and 3rd Baron Lovat), he was referred to as the 16th Lord.

Lord Lovat was commissioned into the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and promoted Lieutenant in 1890, but transferred to the 1st Life Guards in 1894. In 1897 he resigned from the Regular Army and joined a volunteer battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. In 1899 he raised the Lovat Scouts, and served as their second-in-command in the South African War, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. In World War I, he commanded the Highland Mounted Brigade of the 2nd Mounted Division, being promoted Brigadier-General in September 1914. In March 1915 he took command of the 4th Mounted Division and became a Major General that May.^[1] In 1919 he was appointed Army Director of Forestry. He became a Rhodes Trustee in 1917, the same year as Rudyard Kipling.

Apart from his military career Lovat was also Chairman of the Forestry Commission from 1919 to 1927 and served in the Conservative administration of Stanley Baldwin as Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs from 1926 to 1927. He was made a Knight of the Thistle in 1915.

Lovat died in February 1933, aged 61, and was succeeded by his eldest son Simon as the 15th Lord Lovat (known as the 17th Lord), who distinguished himself during the D-Day landings at Normandy in June 1944. His younger son Sir Hugh Fraser was a successful politician and first husband of the author Antonia Fraser.

Family

Lovat married Hon. Laura Lister, daughter of Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale, in 1910. They had five children.

1. Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, Master of Lovat [?-1933] and 15th Lord Lovat [1933-1995] (b. 9 July 1911 - d. 16 March 1995)
2. Hon. Magdalen Mary Charlotte Fraser (b. 1 August 1913 - d. 27 September 1969) Married John Scott, 4th Earl of Eldon (b. 29 March 1899, d. 20 October 1976). They had 3 children: John Joseph Nicholas Scott, 5th Earl of Eldon (b. 24 Apr 1937) and Hon. Simon Peter Scott (b. 13 Sep 1939). Died at the age of 56.
3. Hon. Sir Hugh Charles Patrick Joseph Fraser (b. 23 Jan 1918 - d. 6 March 1984) Married Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Pakenham (AKA Lady Antonia Fraser) 25 September 1956. After Lady Antonia began an affair with Harold Pinter in 1975 and began living with the playwright, she and Fraser dissolved their marriage in 1977. They had 6 children: Rebecca Rose Fraser (b. 4 May 1957), Flora Fraser (b. 30 Oct 1958), Benjamin Hugh Fraser (b. 28 Mar 1961),Natasha Fraser (b. 1963), Damian Fraser (b. 1964), and Orlando Fraser (b. 1967). Sir Hugh died at the age of 66 from lung cancer.
4. Hon. Veronica Nell Fraser (b. 1920 - d. 27 January 2005) Died at the age of 85.
5. Hon. Mary Diana Rose "Rose" Fraser (b. 15 Apr 1926 - d. 31 Aug 1940) Died at the age of 14.

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• www.thepeerage.com