Mr John Fraser

Abt 1657 - 1711  (54 years)

• Name	John Fraser
  Title	Mr
  Birth	Abt 1657	Nigg, Ross-shire, Scotland
  	Hypothesis
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1676	London, England
  	Arrived in London in 1675 according to 'Scraps of the Covenant: No. 11 Dunnottar Castle' in The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, March 1823. Carslaw's 'Exiles of the Covenant' has him arriving in 1680 and staying with a Baptist minister and later studying at a Dutch university.
  Occupation	Abt Oct 1684	London, England   [1]
  	Writing master - so described when witness on 27 Nov 1685 to the will of William Rigg while aboard the Henry and Francis
  Residence	Dec 1684	London, England
  	Arrested with others at Foster Lane, near the Guildhall, where Alexander Shields was preaching
  Role	1685	East Jersey, New Jersey, USA
  	Transported prisoner - returned
  Religion	1685	Scotland
  	Presbyterian - Covenanter
  Imprisonment	Jan 1684/85	London, England
  	Held in Newgate Jail before being returned to Scotland
  Residence	Feb 1684/85	London, England
  Imprisonment	12 Mar 1685	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [2, 3]
  	Warded in Edinburgh Tolbooth by order of the Privy Council, brought from Leith following his arrest in London
  	Fellow prisoners: Andrew Craffurd, William Cuningham, Charles Gray, John Forman, John Mortine, William Oliphant, Alexander Shiell
  Legal	20 May 1685	Burntisland, Fife, Scotland
  	"obstinat" in refusing to take the Test in presence of John Wederburne
  Imprisonment	Jun 1685	Dunnottar, Kincardineshire, Scotland
  	One of the Dunnottar prisoners
  Departure	5 Sep 1685	Leith, Midlothian, Scotland
  	Aboard the Henry and Francis. Prisoner - banished
  Arrival	7 Dec 1685	Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA
  Residence	1686	Waterbury, Connecticut, USA   [4]
  	Where he preached
  Departure	Abt 1689	Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA
  	To return to Scotland
  Title Suffix	of Pitcalzean
  Name	John Frazer  [5]
  Occupation	23 Dec 1691	Glencorse, Midlothian, Scotland   [6]
  	Date ordained as minister of Glencorse parish
  Occupation	6 Nov 1695	Alness, Ross-shire, Scotland   [7]
  	Date admitted as minister of Alness parish, having been encouraged to transfer by the General Assembly to address a shortgae of Gaelic-speakign ministers.
  Origin	Nigg, Ross-shire, Scotland
  Death	9 Jun 1711	Alness, Ross-shire, Scotland   [7]
  Person ID	I44615	East Jersey Genealogies
  Last Modified	19 Oct 2025

  
  

  Father	James Fraser
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F31729	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Jean Moffat,   b. Abt 1666, Galashiels, Selkirkshire, Scotland d. Aft 1730, Cromarty, Cromarty, Scotland (Age > 65 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1686	Waterbury, Connecticut, USA   [4]
  Children	1. Rev James Fraser,   b. Abt 1698, Alness, Ross-shire, Scotland d. 5 Oct 1769, Alness, Ross-shire, Scotland (Age 71 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Jean Fraser,   b. 1695, Glencorse, Midlothian, Scotland  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Katherine Fraser   d. 3 Jan 1785, Nigg, Ross-shire, Scotland  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Isabel Fraser  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   5. John Fraser   d. 9 Jun 1712  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F31171	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Oct 2025

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Abt 1657 - Nigg, Ross-shire, Scotland Residence - 1676 - London, England Occupation - Writing master - so described when witness on 27 Nov 1685 to the will of William Rigg while aboard the Henry and Francis - Abt Oct 1684 - London, England Residence - Arrested with others at Foster Lane, near the Guildhall, where Alexander Shields was preaching - Dec 1684 - London, England Religion - Presbyterian - Covenanter - 1685 - Scotland Imprisonment - Held in Newgate Jail before being returned to Scotland - Jan 1684/85 - London, England Residence - Feb 1684/85 - London, England Imprisonment - Warded in Edinburgh Tolbooth by order of the Privy Council, brought from Leith following his arrest in London - 12 Mar 1685 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Legal - "obstinat" in refusing to take the Test in presence of John Wederburne - 20 May 1685 - Burntisland, Fife, Scotland Imprisonment - One of the Dunnottar prisoners - Jun 1685 - Dunnottar, Kincardineshire, Scotland Departure - Aboard the Henry and Francis. Prisoner - banished - 5 Sep 1685 - Leith, Midlothian, Scotland Arrival - 7 Dec 1685 - Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA Departure - To return to Scotland - Abt 1689 - Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA Occupation - Date admitted as minister of Alness parish, having been encouraged to transfer by the General Assembly to address a shortgae of Gaelic-speakign ministers. - 6 Nov 1695 - Alness, Ross-shire, Scotland Origin - - Nigg, Ross-shire, Scotland Death - 9 Jun 1711 - Alness, Ross-shire, Scotland  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S3607] Nelson, William, Calendar of Records in the Office of the Secretary of State, 1664-1703, p70. [S3522] Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, (Name: Old Edinburgh Club; Location: Edinburgh; Date: 1916;), Vol. XI, 1922, p40. [S3611] Privy Council of Scotland, The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3rd Series, X, p180. [S3780] Fraser, James, The Works of the Rev. James Fraser, of Pitcalzian, Minister of the Gospel at Alness, Ross-Shire, p viii. [S3522] Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, (Name: Old Edinburgh Club; Location: Edinburgh; Date: 1916;), Vol. XII, 1923, p166. [S3612] Scott, Hew, Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; the Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, (Name: Oliver and Boyd; Location: Edinburgh; Date: 1923;), Vol. I - Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, p322. [S3612] Scott, Hew, Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; the Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, (Name: Oliver and Boyd; Location: Edinburgh; Date: 1923;), Vol. VII, Synods of Ross, Sutherland and Caithness, etc - p26.