#6670, Thomas Alexander FRASER

His parents were Alexander Fraser, 9th of Strichen (d 1803) and Amelia M Leslie (d Aug. 1860).  Thomas Alexander 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 attained and executed as a Jacobite in 1747.  He also inherited the Lovat estates at Beauly in Inverness-shire.  On 28th January 1837 he was created Baron Lovat, of Lovat in the County of Inverness.  In 1845, the attainder of the 11th Lord Lovat (who had been attained and executed in 1747) was reversed, and Lovat thereby became 12th Lord Lovat.  He notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Inverness from 1853 to 1873 and was made a Knight of the Thistle in 1865,

Lord Lovat and his wife Charlotte had three daughters and four sons:

Amelia Charlotte Fraser (1824-1912) who married Charles Scott-Murray of Danesfield, a Conservative MP for Buckinghamshire

Frances Giorgiana Fraser (1826-1899) who married Sir Pyers Mostyn, 8th Baronet (1811-1882)

Charlotte Henrietta Fraser (1827-1904) who married Sir Matthew Sausse, the Chief Justice of Bombay in 1866

Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat (1828-1887) who married Alice Mary Weld-Blundell, daughter of Thomas Weld-Blundell

Alexander Edward Fraser (1831-1885), a Lt. Col. in the Scots Guards who fought in the Crimean War and married Georgiana Mary Heneage, only daughter of George Fiesch Heneage of Hainton Hall

George Edward Stafford Fraser (1834-1854) who died unmarried

Henry Thomas Fraser (1838-1904), a Colonel in the 1st Battalion Scots Guards who also died unmarried.

The previous title holder, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (c1667-1747), nicknamed The Fox was known for his feuding.  In 1715 he had been a supporter of the House of Hanover but in 1745 he changed sides and supported the Stuart claim on the crown of Great Britain.  Lovat was among the Highlanders defeated at the Battle of Culloden and convicted of treason.  He was sentenced to death and sent to the Tower of London for execution.  He remained sanguine in the days leading up to his execution even exhibiting a sense of humour.  On the day of his execution, 9th April 1747 many spectators arrived at Tower Hill and an overcrowded timber stand collapsed leaving nine spectators dead.  His laughter at this incident, even as he was executed is said to be the origin of the phrase to laugh one's head off.