Marion Fraser

Lady Marion Fraser LT
Born	Marion Anne Forbes (1932-10-17)17 October 1932 Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died	25 December 2016(2016-12-25) (aged 84) Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Education	Hutchesons' Grammar School
Alma mater	Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama University of Glasgow (MA, 1954)
Occupation(s)	Musician, educator
Spouse	Sir William Kerr Fraser ​ ​ (m. 1956)​
Children	4

Lady Marion Anne Fraser LT (née Forbes; 17 October 1932 – 25 December 2016) was a Scottish music educator.[1]

Personal life

Fraser was the daughter of Elizabeth Taylor Watt and Robert Forbes.[2] She attended school in Glasgow at Hutchesons' Girls' Grammar School, going on to the University of Glasgow in 1950, to study for an MA. While a student at the university, she was elected president of the Queen Margaret Union.[3] She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama where she studied piano.[3]

In 1956, she married William Kerr Fraser, a former president of the Glasgow University Students' Representative Council and at the time a junior civil servant at the Scottish Office.[4] He went on to become permanent secretary there, and later principal and then Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.[5] The couple had three sons and one daughter.[2]

Career

Fraser worked as a music teacher and became director of St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh from 1989 to 1995, as well as being founding chair of the Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy from 1986 to 1989, a governor of the former Laurel Bank School for Girls from 1988 to 1995 and a Director of Scottish Opera from 1990 to 1994. In 1996, shortly after stepping down as Director of St. Mary's, she was created a Lady of the Order of the Thistle.[6] Her husband had been created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1979 (and subsequently elevated within the order to Knight Grand Cross), entitling her to be addressed as Lady Fraser; however, she now became Lady Marion Fraser in her own right.[3]

Fraser had been a trustee of the Scottish Churches Architectural Heritage Trust since 1989, and President of Scotland's Churches Scheme since 1997.[7] She was trustee of the Lamp of Lothian Collegiate Trust from 1996 to 2005, and chairman of the Board of Christian Aid from 1990 to 1997, and of both the Scottish International Piano Competition and the Scottish Association for Mental Health from 1995 to 1999. She served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1994 to 1995.

Fraser was made an Honorary Member of the Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh in 1998[8] and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2002, and was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree by the University of Glasgow in 1995 and an honorary D.Univ. degree by the University of Stirling in 1998.[9]

She died at St Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh, on 25 December 2016.

Arms

Lady Marion's helm and crest above her stall in St. Giles' Cathedral.

Coat of arms of Marion Fraser

Crest A demi-female richly attired holding in her dexter hand at the shoulder a thistle slipped and leaved all Proper and in her sinister hand at the hip a fraise Argent.[10] Escutcheon Azure three fraises in pale Argent between two bears' heads couped and respectant of the last muzzled Gules.[11]

References

1. "Lady Marion Fraser LT's Obituary on The Times". The Times. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
2. "FRASER, Lady Marion Anne". Who's Who 2009, A & C Black, 2008; online edn. Oxford University Press. December 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
3. "University of Glasgow - Lady Marion Fraser - a tribute". University of Glasgow. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
4. "Biography of Sir William Kerr Fraser". University Story. University of Glasgow. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
5. "FRASER, Sir William Kerr". Who's Who 2009, A & C Black, 2008; online edn. Oxford University Press. December 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
6. "No. 54597". The London Gazette. 3 December 1996. p. 15995.
7. "Sacred Scotland - Scotland's Churches Scheme". Sacred Scotland - Scotland's Churches Scheme. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
8. "The Merchant Company, The City of Edinburgh, Honorary Members". Merchant Company of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
9. "Honorary Graduates of The University of Stirling - 1998 to 2007". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
10. "rest of the Day: Lady Marion Fraser LT". Court of the Lord Lyon. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
11. "Lady Marion Fraser Lecture". Heraldry Society of Scotland. Retrieved 7 August 2019.