James Fraser (abt. 1767 - 1813)

Born about 1767 in Scotland

Husband of Mary (Lloyd) Fraser — married 21 Dec 1802 in Calcutta, Bengal, India

Descendants

Died 18 May 1813 at about age 46 in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia

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Biography

James Fraser was born about 1767 in Scotland, son of James Fraser (~1745–1827) and Mary Murray (~1746– ). The exact location is not known, however, his father's regiment was stationed at Edinburgh Castle in 1764, in February 1765 on the West Coast of Scotland, in June 1765 at Fort George and in May 1766 in Inverness with some companies going to Fort Augusta and Fort William. Also, his father was on furlough on 31 December 1766 when his regiment, the 25th Regiment of Foot, was based at Fort William. ^[1]Soldiers were sometimes given furlough when they married.

James joined the 100th Foot as a volunteer early in 1781, aged 14, and departed for India with the expedition commanded by Brigadier Medows. He arrived in Bombay in January 1782, when he was appointed an ensign. James was promoted to lieutenant on 9 July 1783. He was on half-pay until 1789.^[2]

In 1789, James exchanged to full pay in the 72nd Regiment of Foot and returned to India. He was promoted to captain-lieutenant in the 78th Regiment of Foot in May 1797.

James had his first and only child, James Fraser, with Christian Law. James and Christian were not married. This child was born in Edinburgh on 23 December 1788. A report of the interrogation of Christian Law in a St Andrews’ Kirk Session states: ‘Law’s Confession: … Christie Law and being seriously exhorted and interrogate[d] confessed she was with Child, declares James Fraser is the father that the guilt was committed 1 June when she was coming from the Burn, and that she had repeatedly told him within these two months, but received no answer.’^[3]

James (35) later married Mary Lloyd (20) (born in 1781 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England) on December 21, 1802 in Calcutta, Bengal, India. ^[4]

James died on May 18, 1813 in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia, aged 46.

When trouble broke out at Problinggo between Chinese settlers and local villagers, the 78th Foot were sent to restore order. Two officers were siezed and murdered.

Buried at Problingo, East Java - "Sacred to the memory of Lieut. Colonel James Fraser and Captain James McPherson of His Majesty's 78th Highland Regiment who were barborously murdered by a band of insurgents near Problinggo on the night of the 18th of May 1813. This monument was erected over their remains by their brother officers as a mark of the high esteem in which they held their worth and virtues."

Sources

1. ↑ TNA WO22/4158 image 9868
2. ↑ ‘Records of Officers’ Services’, in Davidson (1901), p. 83 and TNA, WO.25/745, 492, and British Library: Asian and African Studies IOR/J/1/28/187-94, FRASER James, 1813 and ‘Memorandum of the unfortunate death and of the Services of Lieut’t Col Ja’s Fraser of the 78th Reg’t of Foot’, pp. 305-309
3. ↑ St Andrews’ Kirk Session records 15 November 1789
4. ↑ Ancestry, India Select Marriages 1792-1948, Fraser and Lloyd, citing FamilySearch, India Marriages 1792-1948 2013, FHL 498609

Notes

• The country of death, Indonesia, was not yet a country (in its present form) at the time of James' death.