Simon Alexander Fraser (13 February 184517 April 1934) was an Australian bagpiper, stock rider, and whip-maker of

Scottish descent Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...

. With his wife Florence (née MacMillan) and five of their children, the Fraser's family musical group toured Victoria and between them provided

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, two

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. They played at Government House. As a whip-maker Fraser "wove forty-four strands into the longest whip that had been made in Australia."

Early life

Fraser was born on a boat in Port Arthur,

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

, on 13 February 1845, the eldest son of twelve children. His father, Hugh Archibald Fraser (17961895), a Scottish magistrate, migrated to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1828. Hugh lived at River Hunter Valley. Working as a farmer, he lost most of his money within fifteen years, owing to bad crops, and heavy partying and betting. It is claimed that Hugh had relatives with the Campbells of Lorn.Mackenzie, pp. 146–147 Hugh became an overseer at Port Arthur's penal settlement in the 1840s. Fraser's mother, Mary Fraser (née Anderson, 18271899) was descended from the MacCrimmons family, traditional pipers to the clan MacLeod and she was a granddaughter of Charles MacArthur, a Scottish bagpiper. The Fraser family relocated to Barwite, Victoria (near

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

) when he was a child. He spent most of his life living in the district. He took bagpipe lessons from Peter Bruce in

Benalla Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

, away, riding his horse each way. Later he made his own bagpipes and was reputedly, "the first to use kangaroo-skin in preference to the traditional sheep-skin", he won championship contests in playing, throughout Australia. As a stock rider, with his brothers, he would drove sheep from Mansfield to Melbourne. He learnt whip making from local Aboriginal stock man, Nangus Jack. Fraser "wove forty-four strands into the longest whip that had been made in Australia."

Career and personal life

Fraser married Florence MacMillan, a Scottish dancer, in November 1872.Mackenzie, p. 156 They had eight children, two of whom become successful bagpipers, Jack and Hugh. Fraser "did not play the pipes seriously until he was 40". His teacher, Peter Bruce, had left Fraser bagpipes in Bruce's will. With five of their children, the Frasers toured Victoria as a musical group, including a performance at Government House, Melbourne. The ensemble provided clarinet, piccolo, piano, two violins and

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

. In addition to bagpipes, Fraser played violin and flute. He continued to work as a stock rider and whip-maker. He was survived by six of his children.

References

;General * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Simon Alexander 1845 births 1934 deaths 19th-century Australian musicians People from the Colony of Victoria Australian bagpipe players Australian people of Scottish descent People from Tasmania People from Victoria (state)