The grave of Sir Andrew Fraser, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Sir Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser (14 November 1848 – 26 February 1919) was a British officer of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

and the

Lieutenant Governor of Bengal The Governor was the chief colonial administrator in the Bengal presidency, originally the "Presidency of Fort William" and later "Bengal province". In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them t ...

between 1903 and 1908.

Early life and education

Born in Bombay on 14 November 1848, Fraser was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

before being called to the Bar at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

. He was a son of Rev. Alexander Garden Fraser (1814–1904) and Joanna Maria Shaw (1823–1864).

Career

He joined the

in 1871, serving in the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. ...

for nearly thirty years. In 1897, he was appointed a CSI and was knighted with the KCSI in 1902. During his service he rose to be the Chief Commissioner of Central Provinces in 1899 followed by President of Police Commission in 1902. In 1903, he was selected the successor of James Bourdillon to the post of the

. He was elected President of

The Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

for 1905–07. Fraser retained the position of Governor of the Western province of Bengal following the

1905 Partition of Bengal The first Partition of Bengal (1905) was a territorial reorganization of the Bengal Presidency implemented by the authorities of the British Raj. The reorganization separated the largely Muslim eastern areas from the largely Hindu western are ...

. However, his role in the planning of partition of Bengal, earned him notoriety among nationalist agitators, with a notable assassination attempt in 1907 which attempted to derail his train. Another assassination attempt in November 1908 involved a pistol which failed to go off, the would-be assassin later declaring that he wanted to show Bengalis that even the Lieutenant-Governor was not invincible. He was succeeded in 1908 by Sir William Baker. Fraser 's published works include his memoirs ''Among Indian Rajahs and Ryots'' published in 1909, and ''India under Curzon and After'' published in 1911. He lived his final years at 22 Heriot Row in Edinburgh's Second New Town. Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser died on 26 February 1919. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, on the south wall of the north section, backing onto the original cemetery. The stone is very distinctive, carrying a St Andrews Cross in red granite by McGlashan. He is also the founder and the first principal of one of the biggest and most popular public school

Rajkumar College, Raipur Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, is one of the oldest K-12 foundations of India. It was founded by Sir Andrew Fraser in the year 1882 at Jabalpur. The School functioned at Jabalpur till 1892 and thereafter, shifted to its presen ...

, Chhattisgarh, India.

Family

His wife Henrietta died in 1952. Their children included the cricketers

Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

and Charles Fraser, the soldiers Cpt Charles J. S. Fraser MC (d.1929) and Cpt Harry Lugard Fraser and Professor

Alec Garden Fraser Alexander Garden Fraser (6 October 1873 – 27 January 1962), , was a British educator and Anglican vicar. He was one of the founders of Achimota School and the first principal of the school (1924–1935). The other founders were Sir Frederick ...

, principal of Trinity College.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Andrew Henderson Leith 1848 births 1919 deaths People educated at Edinburgh Academy Scottish lawyers Lieutenant-governors of Bengal Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Scottish civil servants Presidents of The Asiatic Society