Edward Fraser
Sir Edward Henry Fraser DCL (15 February 1851 – 10 November 1921) was an English solicitor who was Mayor of Nottingham on four occasions.[1] He was born in Nottingham and privately educated.
Edward Fraser's mother was Frances Fraser, born 1830 or 1832.[2] Frances Fraser was a lace maker, as were[3] her sister, Janet Jessie, and Mother, Ann. The Fraser family lived at one time in Toll St., Nottingham.[4] Frances was later a business woman, as she owned a company from home address, as listed in late 1880s Nottingham trade directories [5] and her income was described as from "derived dividends" in the 1871 census.[6] Frances Fraser died 25 January aged 57 years old, and was buried in the Nottingham Church Cemetery[7] (Rock Cemetery), Nottingham.
He became a solicitor by profession, was appointed the first Secretary of the Nottingham Incorporated Law Society and in 1892 elected its President.[1]
In 1876, he was elected a town councillor for Nottingham, served as Sheriff of Nottingham for 1884–85, was made an Alderman in 1889 and elected Mayor of Nottingham for three successive years in 1896–1899. He was chosen a fourth time in 1910 and knighted in 1908. In 1898 he was also conferred with a D.C.L by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the Parliamentary election of 1900.
He acted as Chairman of the Corporation Finances Committee, was Chairman of the Derwent Water Board and a Governor of Nottingham University College. He was also a Director of various commercial companies, including the Great Central Railway and the Nottingham Permanent Benefit Building Society. As Clerk to the Governors he was also responsible for the finances of Nottingham High School.
He was granted the Freedom of the City of Nottingham and his portrait hangs in the Justice Museum, Nottingham[8] In 1877, he married Jane Keightley, daughter of Charles Keightley, and they lived in 'The Park', Nottingham, in a house which the family owned for 60 years. They had one son and three daughters.[1] He died at Wellington House, Nottingham.[9]
References
- ^ a b c "Obituary: Sir Edward Fraser". The Times. 11 November 1921. p. 12.
- ^ "Census 1851". Ancestry. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
- ^ Kemp, Linzi J (September 2025). "Francis Fraser: Nottingham lacemaker, Single mother of a Sheriff of Nottingham" (PDF). Nottingham Womens History Group Newsletter ( (19): 6–7.
- ^ "Toll St. Image reference: NTGM002182". Picture Nottingham. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
- ^ White, William (1885). White's Trade Directory - Nottingham. The History, Gazetteer & Directory of Nottinghamshire, 1885 (2nd ed.). Bromley Library, Nottingham. Also University of Leicester online: William White.
- ^ "UK Census Records". Find My Past.
- ^ "Rock Cemetery". find a grave. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ "Portrait of Sir Edward Fraser". Nottingham City Museums & Galleries (2025). Retrieved 23 August 2025.
- ^ Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories), 1876-1936
- Robert Mellors (1924). "Men of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire". Retrieved 18 February 2017.
- W. T. Pike, ed. (1901). "Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire at the Opening of the Twentieth Century; [and] Contemporary Biographies". Retrieved 18 February 2017.