Sir Simon Fraser (21 August 1832 – 30 July 1919) was a Canadian-Australian businessman, pastoralist, and politician. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

from 1901 to 1913, having previously been a member of the colonial

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria that follows a Westminster System, Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Monarchy in Australia, King, represent ...

Early life

Fraser was born on 21 August 1832 in Big Brook (now known as Lorne), a small rural township in

Pictou County Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Further ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. He was the youngest son of Jane (née Fraser) and William Fraser. His parents shared the same surname, although no familial connection has been noted between the two. Fraser's father was born in

Beauly Beauly ( ; ; ) is a village in Scotland's Highland (council area), Highland area, on the River Beauly, west of Inverness by the Far North Line, Far North railway line. The town is historically within Kilmorack Parish of the County of Inverness. ...

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...

, Scotland, and claimed descent from

Clan Fraser of Lovat Clan Fraser of Lovat ( ) is a Highland Scottish clan and the principal branch of Clan Fraser. The Frasers of Lovat are strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan's founder gained lands there in the 13th century. ...

. He arrived in Nova Scotia in 1801, as a small child. According to Fraser, his mother spoke fluent

Canadian Gaelic Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic (, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada. Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scotia from 1773, with the ...

and one of his grandfathers spoke "very little English". In 1906, he became the inaugural patron of the Gaelic Society of Victoria, an organisation devoted to keeping the

Scottish Gaelic language Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

and customs alive in Australia. In an address to the society, he said that he could speak only a few sentences of Gaelic, but that he could still understand most conversations. In 1839, when Fraser was seven years old, his father was killed in a sawmilling accident. He began working on the family farm at a young age, and received limited formal schooling. Attracted by the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

, he immigrated to Australia at the age of 21, arriving in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1853. He immediately went to the goldfields at

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

, where he turned a profit selling supplies to miners.

Business career

In 1855, Fraser moved to Melbourne and opened a store on Elizabeth Street, where he engaged in horse trading and imported produce from Sydney. He later expanded into construction and began tendering for government road, bridge and railway contracts. His business partners included Jenkin Collier and William McCulloch. One of his more notable contracts was to supply

ballast Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...

to the Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company, a privately owned railway which connected

Moama Moama ( or ) is a town in the Murray region of southern New South Wales, Australia, in the Murray River Council local government area. The town is directly across the Murray River from the larger town of Echuca in the neighbouring state of Vic ...

on the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

Deniliquin Deniliquin () is a town in the western Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. It is the largest town in the Edward River Council local government area. Deniliquin is located at the inte ...

in southern

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 ...

. Instead of supplying blue metal, Fraser supplied quartz from the slag heaps of Bendigo gold mines. It met the specifications of the contract, but was not what was expected by the owners of the railway. In the mid-1860s, Fraser established the Squatting Investment Company with Thomas Craig, William Forrest, and George Simmie. The company acquired pastoral leases on the Dawson River in

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...

, which were consolidated into Mount Hutton Station, as well as Bundaleer and Thurulgoona in

South West Queensland South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa, Queensland, Maranoa district and parts o ...

. Fraser later acquired further properties in the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

of New South Wales and the Western District of Victoria, becoming a leader of the wealthy

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

-growing class known as the

Squattocracy In the history of Australia, squatting was the act of occupying tracts of Crown land, typically to graze livestock. Though most squatters initially held no legal rights to the land they occupied, the majority were gradually recognised by succes ...

Politics

Fraser was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for the seat of Rodney in 1874, which he held until 1883. In 1886, he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

, the traditional preserve of the squatters, representing

South Yarra Province South Yarra Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council from November 1882 until May 1904. South Yarra Province was created in the redistribution of provinces in 1882 when the Central and Eastern Provinces were abolished. ...

, and remained a member until 1901. He was a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

from 1890 to 1892. He was a Victorian delegate to the

1894 Colonial Conference The 1894 Colonial Conference was called by the government of Canada to continue discussion begun at the 1887 Colonial Conference on a proposal to lay a telegraph cable at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to create a communications link between C ...

in Ottawa, and a member of the Constitutional Convention which drafted the

Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

. In 1901, following the

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

of the Australian colonies, Fraser was elected as one of the first six Victorian members of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

, remaining a senator until his retirement in 1913. When elected he was a supporter of prime minister

Edmund Barton Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician, barrister and jurist who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903. He held office as the leader of the Protectionist Party, before ...

Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party, also known as the Protectionist Liberal Party or Liberal Protectionist Party, was an Politics of Australia, Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. T ...

, but he was not favourable to Barton's more liberal successor,

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...

, and sat as an independent conservative until 1909, when he joined Deakin's new

Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...

, although belonging to its conservative wing. He was awarded a knighthood in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

, becoming Sir Simon Fraser.

Personal life

Fraser married Margaret Bolger in 1862, with whom he had two daughters. He was widowed in 1880 and remarried in 1885 to Anna Collins, the sister of Queensland MP Robert Martin Collins. He had three sons from his second marriage, including Simon and Neville who were both high-level athletes. Neville's son

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

was prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. Fraser died of

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

on 30 July 1919, aged 86, in

, and was buried at Brighton General Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Anne, a daughter and two sons.

References

External links

Sir Simon Fraser (1832–1919)
Gravesite at Brighton General Cemetery, Victoria. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Simon 1832 births 1919 deaths Australian Knights Bachelor Australian people of Scottish descent Canadian Gaelic Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian emigrants to Australia Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Deaths from bronchitis Malcolm Fraser Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria People from Pictou County Protectionist Party members of the Parliament of Australia Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia Scottish Gaelic language activists 19th-century squatters Burials at Brighton General Cemetery People from the Colony of Victoria