Alistair Fraser

This article is about the former Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. For his son, the former Clerk of the House of Commons, see Alistair Fraser (parliamentary official).
Alistair Fraser
21st Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
In office
September 1, 1952 – January 15, 1958
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor GeneralVincent Massey
PremierAngus Lewis Macdonald
Harold Connolly
Henry Hicks
Robert Stanfield
Preceded byJohn Alexander Douglas McCurdy
Succeeded byEdward Chester Plow
Personal details
Born(1885-03-15)March 15, 1885
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
DiedJanuary 24, 1964(1964-01-24) (aged 78)
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
NationalityCanadian
Spouse(s)Jane Ross Fraser, daughter of James Hamilton Ross
RelationsDuncan Cameron Fraser (father)
ChildrenAlistair Fraser
Ian Fraser
Duncan Fraser
Alma materDalhousie Law School
OccupationLawyer
ProfessionCounsel

Alistair Fraser MC QC (March 15, 1885 – January 24, 1964) was the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, from 1952 to 1958.

Fraser was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.[1] His father, Duncan Cameron Fraser, served as Nova Scotia's lieutenant-governor from 1906 to 1910 and had also been a Member of Parliament and a judge on the province's supreme court.[2] He married Jane Ross, the daughter of James Hamilton Ross.

He graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1908, was called to the bar in 1911, and was named King's Counsel in 1921.[1] After his death, a fund was established by his estate to provide a scholarship in his name to the Dalhousie Faculty of Law. Fraser practised law in both eastern and western Canada until the outbreak of World War I when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent overseas. He received two field promotions and was awarded the Military Cross following the Battle of Vimy Ridge. During the war Fraser was appointed aide de camp to General Sir Arthur Currie, commander of the Canadian Corps.[1]

After being demobilized in 1919, he joined the Canadian National Railway as a general solicitor. He was promoted to commission counsel in 1923, assistant general counsel in 1929 and then vice-president of the traffic department. He held that position until his retirement in 1951. He was appointed viceroy of Nova Scotia the following year.[1]

As lieutenant governor, Fraser officiated over the opening of the Canso Causeway.[3] In 1963, he was awarded $560,000 by the Supreme Court of Canada for 10,000,000 tons of granite taken from his property for use in the construction of the link between Cape Breton and the Nova Scotia mainland. Fraser sued after the federal government only offered him $5,500 in compensation.[1]

Fraser's son, also named Alistair Fraser (1923–1997), served as executive assistant to federal cabinet minister Jack Pickersgill in the 1960s[1] and then served as Clerk of the Canadian House of Commons from 1967 to 1979.[2][4]

Awards and decorations


References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Alistair Fraser, MC winner served in vice-regal post", Globe and Mail, January 25, 1964
  2. ^ a b Duncan Cameron Fraser parliamentary biography
  3. ^ "$25,000,000 Canso Causeway in Nova Scotia finally completed", Globe and Mail, December 14, 1954
  4. ^ http://mikan3.archives.ca/pam/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=137005&rec_nbr_list=137005[permanent dead link‍]


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