Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry

The Frasers
Page 3

William Fraser was one of my 4xgreat grandfathers on my mother's side. So far I know very little about his life. He married Elizabeth (or Betty or Elspet) Fraser in 1805 in Boleskine, Inverness-shire. The marriage entry reads "William Fraser in Croftmore married 24th January to Elizabeth Fraser daughter to the late Alexander Fraser tenant in Dalcrag." So far I have traced 4 children born between 1805 and about 1816. The first three children were baptised at Boleskine, but I haven't been able to find a baptism for the 4th (Margaret), possibly because of incomplete records. If there are gaps in the records, it's possible that there are further children too. According to the death certificates of three of his children (John, Janet & Margaret) he was a Crofter and according to another (Alexander) he was a farmer.

Other than those snippets of information, I know very little about William and Elizabeth Fraser. Finding the correct family of Frasers in the censuses is proving difficult, as Fraser was a very common name in the Inverness area. I have found a widow Betsy Fraser, aged 80 living in Boleskine in 1851. However, as she is living alone and described only as a "Pauper formerly Housekeeper", I can't be sure this is my Betty Fraser. So far I've found no trace of William Fraser.

Their eldest daughter Janet Fraser married another Fraser - John, who was a shoemaker and twenty years her senior. I've managed to find this couple in both the 1841 and 1851 censuses, living in Dores, Inverness-shire.

William & Elizabeth's eldest son was John Fraser, my 3xgreat grandfather. For more information on John Fraser and his family, please click on the following link:

This John Fraser married Ann Cameron sometime in the 1830s. When Ann died in 1855, her parents were named as Donald Cameron and Ann Smith, both deceased. For more information on the Cameron family, go to

William & Elizabeth Fraser's youngest daughter Margaret married another Fraser - Hugh - I think the marriage took place in 1842 in Dores. As far as I can tell Margaret & Hugh had 5 daughters but no sons. Their middle daughter Jessie married her first cousin Donald Fraser - the son of my John Fraser and Ann Cameron. I have recently been contacted by Barbara, a descendant of another daughter - Catherine Fraser who married Donald MacDonald. Barbara has very kindly given me this photo of Catherine Fraser as an old lady and also the accompanying one of her gravestone.

William & Elizabeth Fraser's youngest son, Alexander Fraser married Margaret McKenzie and together they had at least 5 children. Their youngest child, another Alexander Fraser, married Catherine McLaren and they had at least 8 children.

For a long time I'd not been able to find a birth for Elizabeth/Betty Fraser even though I knew her father was Alexander Fraser. Recently I found a baptism for an Elspet Fraser to Alexander & Margaret Fraser in 1778 in Boleskine. The time, place and father's name are all right, and I realised that Elspet was just another version of Elizabeth. That combined with some DNA matches to some of her siblings' descendants, means I'm reasonably confident of this early part of the family tree now.

The family tree below summarises what I know about the above generations of my Fraser and Cameron families. It is hopefully reasonably accurate, but if you spot any errors, or any relatives, please feel free to E-mail me

Please click on one of the red links on the tree to move to a different page.

Please click on one of the following links to move to a different page:

If any of the above is of further interest, please feel free to contact me at: n.rowberry@btinternet.com

Nicky Rowberry 2024

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Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry