Lady Marion Anne Fraser (née Forbes; 17 October 1932 – 25 December 2016) was a Scottish music educator.

Personal life

Fraser was the daughter of Elizabeth Taylor Watt and Robert Forbes. She attended school in Glasgow at Hutchesons' Girls' Grammar School, going on to the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1950, to study for an MA. While a student at the university, she was elected president of the Queen Margaret Union. She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama where she studied piano. In 1956, she married William Kerr Fraser, a former president of the Glasgow University Students' Representative Council and at the time a junior civil servant at the Scottish Office. He went on to become

permanent secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

there, and later principal and then Chancellor of the University of Glasgow. The couple had three sons and one daughter.

Career

Fraser worked as a music teacher and became director of St Mary's Music School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

from 1989 to 1995, as well as being founding chair of the Friends of the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

from 1986 to 1989, a governor of the former Laurel Bank School for Girls from 1988 to 1995 and a Director of Scottish Opera from 1990 to 1994. In 1996, shortly after stepping down as Director of St. Mary's, she was created a Lady of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

. Her husband had been created a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in 1979 (and subsequently elevated within the order to Knight Grand Cross), entitling her to be addressed as Lady Fraser; however, she now became Lady Marion Fraser in her own right. Fraser had been a trustee of the Scottish Churches Architectural Heritage Trust since 1989, and President of Scotland's Churches Scheme since 1997. She was trustee of the Lamp of Lothian Collegiate Trust from 1996 to 2005, and chairman of the Board of Christian Aid from 1990 to 1997, and of both the Scottish International Piano Competition and the Scottish Association for Mental Health from 1995 to 1999. She served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1994 to 1995. Fraser was made an Honorary Member of the Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh in 1998 and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2002, and was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree by the

in 1995 and an honorary D.Univ. degree by the University of Stirling in 1998. She died at St Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh, on 25 December 2016.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Marion 1932 births 2016 deaths Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Alumni of the University of Glasgow Ladies of the Thistle Lords High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School Place of birth missing Scottish music educators Scottish women music educators Scottish schoolteachers 20th-century Scottish educators 21st-century Scottish educators 20th-century Scottish women educators 21st-century Scottish women educators