Patrick Neill Fraser

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRSGS (1830–1905) was a Scottish printer and botanist. He was an expert on ferns.

Life

He was born at 59 Lauriston Place 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 ...

the son of William Fraser, a printer at Neill & Co. (est.1749) He was named after his father's boss Patrick Neill, who was probably also his godfather. The printworks, at 10 Old Fishmarket Close in the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

had been rebuilt in 1825 following total destruction in the

Great Fire of Edinburgh The Great Fire of Edinburgh was one of the most destructive fires in the history of Edinburgh. It started on Monday, 15 November 1824, and lasted for five days, with two major phases. Sequence of events The fire broke out around 10pm on 15 No ...

. When Neill died childless in 1851 Patrick Neill Fraser took over the printworks (aged only 21) with his younger brother Alexander Fraser. He was living at

Canonmills Canonmills is a district of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies to the south east of the Royal Botanic Garden at Inverleith, east of Stockbridge and west of Bellevue, in a low hollow north of Edinburgh's New Town. The area was formerl ...

Cottage in north Edinburgh, close to the Royal Botanic Garden in 1855. He later moved to "Rockville" on

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

Road. Here is garden was famed for its alpines, hardy ferns and polyanthus. In 1892 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

Andrew Douglas Maclagan Sir Andrew Douglas Maclagan PRSE FRCPE FRCSE FCS FRSSA (17 April 1812, in Ayr – 5 April 1900, in Edinburgh) was a Scottish surgeon, toxicologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence. He served as president of 5 learned societies: the Royal ...

, Sir Arthur Mitchell, Sir William Turner and Alexander Buchan. He died at Rockville on 27 February 1905 and is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western Edinburgh. The grave lies in the north-west section of the first northern extension.

Family

He was father to

Margaret Neill Fraser Margaret (Madge) Neill Fraser (4 June 1880 – 8 March 1915) usually known as Madge, was a Scottish First World War nurse and notable amateur golfer. She represented Scotland at international level every year from 1905 to 1914. Life Margar ...

who became a golfer. His son, also Patrick Neill Fraser, was killed on 1 July 1916: the first day of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

.CWGC casualties: P N Fraser

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Patrick Neill 1830 births 1905 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish botanists Scottish printers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society Burials at the Dean Cemetery