Sir Malcolm Fraser (1834–17 August 1900) was Surveyor-General in colonial

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

from 1872 to 1883 and Agent-General for the colony 1892 to 1898. Malcolm Fraser was born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England in 1834. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he must have qualified as a surveyor at some stage, and that he emigrated to New Zealand. From 1857 to 1859, Fraser worked as a surveyor in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. He was then district surveyor for the Native Land Purchase Department until 1863; district surveyor for the Canterbury West Gold Fields until 1867; and finally Chief Surveyor for Westland until 1869. In 1870, Fraser emigrated to

to take up the position of that colony's Surveyor-General, which had become vacant on the retirement of John Septimus Roe. Fraser was recruited to the position by then Governor of Western Australia Frederick Weld, who had formerly been Premier of New Zealand and knew Fraser personally from that time. Fraser commenced as surveyor-general on 19 December 1870. In May 1871 he completely reorganised the Lands and Surveys Department, which resulted in the promotion of John Forrest and the dismissal of Alexander Forrest. As surveyor-general, Fraser immediately became a nominated member of Western Australia's Legislative and Executive Councils. He remained surveyor-general until 5 January 1883, when he was appointed to succeed

Edric Gifford Major Edric Frederick Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford, VC (5 July 1849 – 5 June 1911) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Co ...

as Colonial Secretary of Western Australia. Later that year, Fraser represented Western Australia at the Australasian Convention in Sydney. From June 1886 to June 1887, he was on leave in England, and while there he represented Western Australia at the Colonial and Imperial Exhibition in London. In 1888, he represented the state at the Intercolonial Conference in Sydney. After Frederick Broome's tenure as Governor came to an end in December 1889, Fraser was appointed Administrator of Western Australia until the appointment of the next governor. William Robinson was appointed Governor in October 1890, and one of his first tasks was to institute

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bra ...

. Under responsible government, the Executive Council was dissolved, and the office of Colonial Secretary became a ministerial portfolio. Rather than contest a parliamentary seat, Fraser decided to retire on his pension. He retired on 28 December 1890, and shortly afterwards set sail for London. In April 1892 he came out of retirement to accept the position of the first Agent General for Western Australia in London, which position he held until 1898. Malcolm Fraser died at Clifton on 17 August 1900. He was survived by his three sons and two daughters. His wife since 1861, Elizabeth née Riddiford, had died four years earlier. Fraser was made

CMG CMG may refer to: Companies * Capitol Music Group, a music label * China Media Group, the predominant state radio and television broadcaster in the PRC * China Media Group Co., Ltd., publicly listed Chinese holding company in the media sector * ...

in 1881 and KCMG in 1897. Throughout his life Fraser had a reputation for his bad temper; Crowley (2000) referred to him as ''a man whose intemperate habits had been town gossip for years''. In 1881, the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

government botanist, Ferdinand von Mueller named '' Eremophila fraseri'' in his honour.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Malcolm 1834 births 1900 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Colonial Secretaries of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Gloucestershire Surveyors General of Western Australia New Zealand surveyors Colony of Western Australia people 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian public servants Australian surveyors British emigrants to Australia