Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (c. 1667 – 9 April 1747, London), was a Scottish Jacobite and Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat, known for his feuding and changes of allegiance. In 1715, he had been a supporter of the House of Hanover, but in 1745 he changed sides and supported the Stuart claim on the crown of the United Kingdom. Lovat was among the Highlanders defeated at the Battle of Culloden and convicted of treason against the Crown, following which he was sentenced to death and subsequently beheaded. He was the last man in Britain to be executed by beheading, although beheading was not formally abolished in UK law until 1973.

Simon was the second son of Thomas Fraser (1631-1699), known as ‘Thomas of Beaufort’. His mother was Sybilla Macleod (d 1682). The Beaufort Frasers were related to Lord Lovat, the chief of the highland Clan Fraser. Simon was tutored privately at his home near Beauly, followed by a period at grammar school in Inverness. He was a capable student, becoming fluent in English, French and Gaelic, as well as gaining a solid grounding in Latin.

His older brother Alexander died from wounds received fighting government forces at the inconclusive Battle of Killiecrankie. Simon, now his father’s heir, left home to study at King's College, Aberdeen, where he was a ‘diligent student’ and graduated with an MA in 1695.

Upon graduation in 1695 he was at a crossroads, owing to the leadership of the clan by Hugh Fraser, 9th Lord Lovat (1666-1696). Recognising the threat posed to it by the expanding power of the nearby Clan Mackenzie, as well as its allies the Atholl Murrays, Simon of Beaufort needed to ensure his father’s succession to the lordship. There were two avenues available to him to pursue this claim: the law or the army. He chose the latter. Accordingly, he went to Edinburgh and undertook to recruit three hundred men from his clan to form part of a regiment in the service of William and Mary. This was done more to ensure a body of well-trained soldiers under his influence than loyalty to the government. However, a suspicious Lord John Murray (brother of Hugh Fraser's wife, Amelia Murray) was colonel of Simon’s regiment and he was only given a lieutenancy, not a salaried captainship.

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