Simon Fraser

Abt 1250 - 1306  (~ 56 years)

• Name	Simon Fraser
  Birth	Abt 1250	of Oliver Castle, Scottish Borders, Scotland   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	1306	London, England   [2, 3]
  Person ID	I28987	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of GFS, Ancestor of JMF, Ancestor of TWK
  Last Modified	23 May 2021

  
  

  Father	Simon Fraser,   b. Abt 1225, of Oliver Castle, Scottish Borders, Scotland d. 1291 (Age ~ 66 years)
  Mother	Maria
  Family ID	F17286	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Children	+ 1. Mary Fraser + 2. Joanna Fraser
  Family ID	F17285	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jun 2020

  
  

• Notes

  From Wikipedia (accessed 24 Jun 2020): Sir Simon Fraser of Oliver and Neidpath was a Scottish knight who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence, for which he was hanged, drawn, and quartered in 1306. Fraser was captured during the Battle of Dunbar on 27 April 1296 and was sent to a prison in England. He was forfeited of his lands. He was released to serve King Edward I of England's expedition in Flanders in 1297. Fraser was made a household knight - effectively, a member of the royal bodyguard - and gifted a horse by Edward before the Battle of Falkirk. Fraser was thus among the English cavalry divisions that defeated the army of William Wallace. On 27 March 1299, in recognition of his good service, he was restored his lands and titles. He was the Keeper of Selkirk Forest, and was at the Siege of Carlaverock on the side of the English in 1300. He switched to the Scottish side in mid-1301 and led the Scottish victory at the Battle of Roslin in 1303, alongside John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (also known as "Red Comyn"). Here Fraser killed Ralph Manton, an English treasury clerk, whom Fraser accused of embezzling King Edward of funds and neglecting to pay Fraser's wages when he was in English service. Consequently, the English King Edward I marched north through Stirling taking Perth. As Edward approached Dunfermline, the Bishop of St. Andrews and the bishop of Glasgow along with Red Comyn met his army and submitted. Fraser refused to swear fealty to the English King and did not attend. In March 1304, Fraser and Wallace were ambushed by English forces at the Action at Happrew and defeated. By June Fraser had deserted Wallace and accepted Edward's peace terms. In January 1305 he was employed, along with all other Scottish knights, to hunt down his former comrade Wallace. In March 1306 Fraser once again broke faith with King Edward and defected to Robert the Bruce. He escaped from the defeat at the Battle of Methven, but was captured during the summer of 1306 at a subsequent engagement at Kirkencliff near Stirling by Sir Thomas de Multon and Sir John Jose. King Edward had commanded all captured supporters of King Robert executed and, in particular, the lands of Simon Fraser harried and burnt. The prisoner was sent to London, and hanged, drawn, and quartered in September 1306. His head was impaled on a spike on London Bridge, along with Wallace's.

  
  

• Sources

  [S5857] Alex Maxwell Findlater, "Sir Adam de Kilconquhar, Earl of Carrick." Foundations, journal of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, volume 13, 2021. [S800] The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of That Kingdom. Ed. James Balfour Paul. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904-1914. [S5858] The Frasers of Philorth by Alexander Fraser. Edinburgh, 1879., year only.