Fraser’s of Tarradale Hotel
Attribution: unknown or not recorded
Fraser's of tarradale Hotel
Mary Fraser became a large landowner of much of the land around Tarradale Hotel and the village. The family is also linked to the residential property on the Black isle Road, once named Carn-a-Chlarsair.
Kilmorack born, James Fraser moved from Dornoch to the Tarradale Hotel in 1851. He was married in 1854 to Mary Fraser of Gairloch.
Together they had seven children.
Following James’s death in 1872, Mary continued at the Hotel with the help of her eldest son and by 1901 she had built the Carn na Clasher house on the Black Isle Road, where she lived with her daughter Mary.
Hugh Fraser, born in 1854, ran a successful horse posting business from the Tarradale Hotel and became one of the best known horse dealers in the area. He was also a registered postmaster (1891 census), carrying mail from Muir of Ord to Strathconon for many years. He died in 1899 at the age of 45 at the Tarradale Hotel following a relapse of a previous illness.
Alexander was born in 1856 and became a clerk for the Ord distillery and eventually was recorded as being a spirit traveller. He remained unmarried and appears to have been a big figure in the local militia of the 4th Seaforth Highlanders and was known as the Major. It is unknown whether he saw active service. He died at his home at Ruapuna, Seaforth Road in 1925.
There is very little evidence of what happened to Christina who was born in 1858. She disappears after the 1881 census and tracing Fraser records in this area can be very time consuming. She may have died or married before the 1891 census. Newspaper archives do not provide any clues.
Donald, born in 1860 and he was a carpenter on the 1891 census and a farmer on the 1901 census, although he was living at a house named Fraserdale, Seaforth Road with his brothers Alexander and James. By the 1911 census, he was still a farmer and was living with his mother at Carn na Clarsair with his mother and brother James.
Hector was born in 1862 and was recorded as an army reservist on the 1891 census, he was 26. Again, there are no obvious records pertaining to him, which may suggest he left the country. Perhaps Canada?
John born in 1864 became a bank clerk on the 1881 census, He could have ended up working anywhere in the world.
James and his twin sister, were born in 1866. James became a plumber, last recorded on the 1911 census as living at Carn na Chlarsair with his mother and brother Donald.
Mary lived with her mother until her marriage to Robert Thomas Sinclair in 1909. (see entry under Post Office and Commercial Bank). Mary and James became the named owners of land at Carn na Chlarsair by 1920 following the death of their mother sometime between 1915 and 1920. Mary Sinclair was sole owner of the house by 1935, where she also lived with her husband. Robert died in 1945 and Mary in 1950.
A family of importance to the fabric of the almost 100 years of village history, with no apparent descendants to ensure they are remembered.
