Did you know that three great Clans of Scotland begin their history with the Barony of Keith?
The Barony of Keith (or Keith Marischal as it became known) has a rich history that dates back to the 1150's.
Discover the stories and events that have shaped the Barony, three Great Clans, the history of Scotland and global inventions during more than 870 years. barony of keith marischal keith lands and barony
Through the marriage of Hervey Fitz Warin's son with Sir Simon Fraser's grand-daughter and heiress Eda in AD 1225, the Keith - Fraser descendants held the Barony for half a millennia.
Now once again the Barony is held by descendants of the first family to hold the dignity.
The Present-Day Baron, The Much Honoured Erik Almqvist (born 1969), Baron of Keith Marischal, is married to Karolina Temelj Almqvist, Baroness of Keith Marischal.
He is a Fraser descendant, has pioneered world-first measurements of broadband speed effects on the economy, authored the Networked Society City Index, financially rescued Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Latvia, rescued Mobily the number 2 telecom operator in Saudi Arabia, made a turnaround for MTN in Africa, performed a transformation of Telia Company in Sweden, with his team written the Broadband National Plan of Sierra Leone and a blueprint on data protection and privacy for the African Continent, propelled a Nordic University from unranked to a top ten position in the world, helped form a USD 1 Trillion Council, helped build the largest renewable energy company of Europe, established the first supranational cybersecurity authority of the African Continent, and helped digitally transform Africa.
He is the Founder and CEO of Sense Strategy ( https://sensestrategy.com/ ) and Owner of the Almqvist Family Office (https://www.almqvistfamilyoffice.com/ ).
He is the great-grandson of Sven Alexander Almqvist, who built the world's first oil tanker together with Ludvig Nobel.
He is a descendant of Daniel Fraser who built the Gota Canal system in Sweden, the largest engineering project of 19th century Sweden.
The Baron should not be confused with the politician with a similar name born 1982.
The recorded history of Frasers in Scotland begins when Simon Fraser, the first Baron of Keith (a Barony situated in East Lothian, Scotland) donates a church to the monks of Kelso Abbey in 1160.
Through Simon's brother Udard, the Fraser family would develop into a major Scottish Clan who together with the Keiths played a major role in th
The recorded history of Frasers in Scotland begins when Simon Fraser, the first Baron of Keith (a Barony situated in East Lothian, Scotland) donates a church to the monks of Kelso Abbey in 1160.
Through Simon's brother Udard, the Fraser family would develop into a major Scottish Clan who together with the Keiths played a major role in the Scottish Wars of Independence, supporting William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Together with Robert the Bruce and the Keiths they won the battle of Bannockburn 1316 (where Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie led Fraser infantry that helped defeat the heavy cavalry of the English at Bannockburn) and signed the declaration of Arbroath 1320 (a declaration which very likely inspired the American Declaration of Independence in 1776), securing Scotland as an independent Kingdom.
The Frasers built a string of castles including Fraser Castle, Oliver Castle and Cairnbulg Castle, the latter still held by the family.
Fraserburgh is but one city founded by the Frasers, and Alexander George Fraser, Sixteenth Lord Saltoun played a prominent part helping Wellington at the battle of Waterloo 1815.
Simon Fraser (1776–1862), was a famous explorer who charted much of British Columbia in Canada, including the Fraser River, named after him.
Clan Keith took its very name from the Keith lands and Barony. As the son of the Norman knight Hervey Fitz Warin (who had gained land in Keith adjacent to Sir Simon Fraser) married the grand-daughter and heiress of Simon Fraser of Keith named Eda, all Keith land was consolidated in one larger Barony and family of Keith - Fraser descent.
T
Clan Keith took its very name from the Keith lands and Barony. As the son of the Norman knight Hervey Fitz Warin (who had gained land in Keith adjacent to Sir Simon Fraser) married the grand-daughter and heiress of Simon Fraser of Keith named Eda, all Keith land was consolidated in one larger Barony and family of Keith - Fraser descent.
The Keiths would emerge as Great Marischals of Scotland, being victorious at Bannockburn 1316, signing the Declaration of Arbroath 1320, securing Scotland as an independent Kingdom. Sir Robert Keith led the Scottish cavalry at Bannockburn, sending the English longbowmen fleeing from the battlefield.
The Keith Marischals (later Earl Marischals) founded Marischal College in 1593, whose scholars would play a major role in the Scottish Enlightenment, develop multiple inventions such as the world's first electric train and the development of modern physics through Maxwell who achieved the second great unification of physics from which Einstein took inspiration from when formulating his theory of relativity.
The Keiths also sponsored the work of Jean-Jacques Rosseau during the Age of Enlightenment and played an important role in the early history of Nova Scotia and Canada.
Sir Simon Fraser of Neidpath (1257-1306), brother of Sir Alexander Fraser (a victor of Bannockburn). founded the Fraser of Lovat Clan. Sir Simon's marriage to the Celtic heiress of the Bisset lands near Beauly effectively started the Highland Clan. Sir Simon himself met a horrible death at the hands of the English following his support o
Sir Simon Fraser of Neidpath (1257-1306), brother of Sir Alexander Fraser (a victor of Bannockburn). founded the Fraser of Lovat Clan. Sir Simon's marriage to the Celtic heiress of the Bisset lands near Beauly effectively started the Highland Clan. Sir Simon himself met a horrible death at the hands of the English following his support of William Wallace and a free and independant Scotland.
The Clan would populate and control most of the Highland territories from Inverness and Beauly to the shores of Loch Ness. The Frasers of Lovat played a major part in Scottish and Highland history including the Jacobite Risings, and would later build and command regiments throughout the emerging British Empire. The Fraser of Lovat's role in the Jacobite Risings are featured in the TV series 'Outlander'.
During WW2, Frasers were famous for their courage and served at most major allied battlefronts including the Normandy landings 1944 which liberated the European Continent from occupation.
The 15th Lord Lovat personally led commandos behind enemy lines in Norway and at Sword Beach during the Normandy landings in 1944, where he famously walked ashore ahead of his unit under heavy enemy fire followed by his personal bagpiper playing "Highland Laddie", boosting the morale of the Allies. Sir Winston Churchill famously described him as the "the handsomest man ever to cut a throat".
Other Fraser of Lovat descendants would make great engineering and scientific breakthroughs in 19th century during First Industrial Revolution, and in the 21st century knowledge economy.
The Frasers, Keiths, and Frasers of Lovat would build some of the most beautiful castles of Scotland.
Three of these are pictured to the left:
Clockwise from above left: Castle Dunnotar (Clan Keith), Castle Beaufort (Clan Fraser of Lovat), Castle Fraser (Clan Fraser).
Castle Dounie, the original seat of the Frasers of Lovat, was damaged by the armies of Cromwell, and destroyed by the English following Culloden in 1746, as was the original castle at the Keith Marischal lands in East Lothian. However, the Keith Marischal castle was replaced with a manor house with the same name built in 1589 which stands to this day. keith lands and barony
The first mention of the Barony of Keith dates from 1160 when Sir Simon Fraser, the first Baron of Keith, donates a church to the Monks of Kelso:
...donacionem quam Symon fraser eis fecit de ecclesia de Keth cum tota illa terra et toto nemore ab australi parte riuuli qui currit iuxta predictam ecclesiam..."
- Kelso Abbey Cartulary AD 1160, National Library of Scotland
This marks the start of recorded history for Clan Fraser in Scotland, and thus also for Clan Fraser of Lovat, a Highland Clan which emerged from Clan Fraser.
Edinburgh itself, the present day Capital of Scotland, evolved from a Celtish fortress called Din-Edin, to a city (or Burgh, hence the name Edin-burgh). A city of such importance necessitated the protection of strong knights, hence King David I had invited Norman knights such as Sir Simon Fraser, and Hervey Fitz Warin, see below, to defend the South-East approach route to Edinburgh from invading Southern armies.
The Barony dates from c. 1150, when King David I of Rìoghachd na h-Alba (or simply Alba, modern day Scotland), donates land in East Lothian near Edinburgh to the Norman knight Sir Simon Fraser, who had helped defend the Kingdom of Alba that would become Scotland, as well as the city of Edinburgh. David I of Alba was canonized in 1175 by Pope Alexander III, and is the Patron Saint of Scotland.
Around the same time, Hervey Fitz-Warin, also he a Norman knight, gains adjacent lands in Keith through marriage of a local princess of the Pictish Cattra tribe. Then, Hervey's son marries Simon Fraser's granddaughter and heiress Eda, thus consolidating the lands of Keith under one Barony.
The Keiths and the Frasers, now united through marriage, would help shape much of Scotland's history in the centuries that followed.
The name Keith derives from the Celtish word for wood, or woodlands, which was an apt name for the forests that existed east of Edinburgh in the 12th century.
Clan Keith derives its very name from the Barony of Keith in East Lothian.
As the Keiths became Marischals and later Great Marischals of Scotland, the name Marischal was added to the Baronage which became known as Keith Marischal.
The location of Keith Marischal is strategic, to protect the approach route to the present day capital of Scotland, Edinburgh.
The proximity to the capital can be seen in the map to the left. keith lands and barony
The Kings of Alba united three Gaelic Kingdoms (Dál Riata, Fortiu and Alba), thus creating what we now call Scotland. The Kings of Alba were traditionally coronated in Scone at the Stone of Destiny, pictured left.
The Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone, was taken from Scotland in 1296 during the Wars of Scottish Independence. It was seized by King Edward I of England (Edward Longshanks), and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it remained for seven hundred years. The stone was eventually returned to Scotland in 1996 and is now kept in Edinburgh Castle. keith lands and barony
King Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286, leaving his three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway as his heir. When also Margaret died upon arriving to her new Kingdom in 1290, the English King claimed the Kingdom of Scotland first through a proxy and then for himself. This triggered a series of events known as the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Willam Wallace 1270-1305, fought for an independent Scotland during a period when the country was under constant threat of annihilation from the English king. The movie Braveheart (1995, starring Mel Gibson), was based on Willam Wallace and his fight for freedom for the Scots. barony of keith marischal
The Keiths and the Frasers fought in many of these battles for the freedom of Scotland. Following Wallace's death, Sir Robert Keith, Baron of Keith Marischal, famously led the cavalry charge for the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1316 at a pivotal moment, effectively securing the victory for the Scots. This charge was later immortalized in a poem by Sir Walter Scott:
"O! for one hour of Wallace wight,
That Scotland might avenge her right!"
In vain the wish—for far away,
While spoil and havoc mark their way,
The English host are in array;
And, pressing on with eager speed,
Their archers form the battle's head;
But, as they march in long array,
The Scottish horsemen burst away,
And, sweeping down with sudden force,
Disperse the archers' scattered course.
The battle and the subsequent Declaration of Arbroath signed by by Sir Robert Keith, Baron of Keith Marischal, and Alexander Fraser, Baron of Touchfraser and Cowie, secured an independent Scotland for generations to come.
After the Battle of Bannockburn in 1316, the English King convinced the Pope to outlaw - excommunicate - the Scottish King Robert the Bruce.
The Frasers and the Keiths together with some 36 other Scottish Noblemen responded by signing and sending the Declaration of Arbroath to the Pope, stating that they supported Robert the Bruce as the rightful King of Scotland, as long as he supported a free Scotland. The Declaration includes a famous passage, which inspired the movie Braveheart (and most likely the American Declaration of Independence some four hundred and fifty years later):
"As long as a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."
When the armies of Oliver Cromwell some 300+ years later tried to capture also the Scottish Crown Jewels (known as the Honors of Scotland), the oldest in the British Isles, the Keiths smuggled the Crown Jewels out of the besieged Dunnottar Castle, sparing them for posterity. In gratitude, the King created the Earldom of Kintore for the Keiths.
Both the Stone of Destiny and the Scottish Crown Jewels are now on permanent display in Edinburgh Castle.
In the 1620's, the Scots developed a colony in the new world which they called Nova Scotia in present day Canada.
The Keiths played a prominent role in the early history of this emerging society, holding several Baronet noble titles in the New World.
The Frasers made pioneering marks too in Canada including:
The Keith's were well known for their long term support for religious and political freedom. Jean-Jacques Rosseau, the Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer, one of the most influential thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment, was financially sponsored by the Keiths.
George Keith, the 10th Earl Marischal of Scotland and Baron of Keith Marischal, and his brother, Field Marshal James Francis Edward Keith, were significant patrons and supporters of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
In particular, the 10th Earl Marischal (Baron Keith Marischal), who had been exiled after the Jacobite rising of 1715, became a key figure in Rousseau's life when Rousseau faced persecution and exile in the 1760s. After Rousseau's works Émile and The Social Contract were condemned in France and Switzerland, the Earl Marischal offered Rousseau refuge at his estate in Neuchâtel (then under Prussian rule), thus providing him crucial sanctuary during a period of intense personal and political turmoil.
The Marischal College in Aberdeen, founded in 1593 by the Baron Keith Marischal, would play an important role during the Scottish Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution of the 19th century, see below.
The Marischal College in Aberdeen, founded 1593 by the Keith Marischals, is the second largest granite building in the world.
Have you ever taken a train ride in your life? Chances are you travelled on an electric train, first invented by Robert Davidson, who received his education at Marischal College in Aberdeen.
James Clerk Maxwell was a 19th century Scottish physicist and Professor at Marischal College. He was the first to describe electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism achieved the second great unification of physics, where the first had been realized by Isac Newton. He was the first to formulate the butterfly effect, and the concept of relativity.
When Einstein later was asked if he stood on the shoulders of Newton, he famously replied “No, on the shoulders of Maxwell".
The Marischal College merged with King's College in 1860 to form present day University of Aberdeen. barony of keith marischal
The greatest civil engineering project of 19th century Sweden was the construction of Göta Canal (1810–1832), a series of canals traversing Sweden from East to West. Built to connect the Baltic Sea to the North Sea, enabling safe and efficient navigation. It stretches 190 kilometers, of which 87 kilometers were dug by hand. The canal system stands to this day working like a clockwork.
Significance: Revolutionized inland transportation and commerce, significantly reducing travel time, and demonstrating Sweden’s engineering capabilities internationally.
The engineer behind this work was Daniel Fraser (1787-1849), a disciple of the great Thomas Telford. Daniel moved from Ancrum Scotland to Sweden to lead the work. Motala Verkstad, which he founded, helped spark the Industrial Revolution in Sweden. Daniel acquired Charlottenburg Castle in Motala, Sweden, pictured above left, where he died in 1849. Daniel Fraser's descendants married into the Swedish Norrman and Almqvist families. present barony family
Fraser descendants would marry into the 19th century Swedish ecclesiastical and industrialist Almqvist family. This branch of the Fraser - Keith family tree would go on to make significant land-wins in the realm of innovation and technology.
Sven Alexander Almqvist (1840-1931), would carry Daniel Fraser's legacy a step forward by building the first oil tanker in the world, the Zoroaster, together with Ludvig Nobel in 1878. The first generation of oil tankers were named after the philosophies and religions of the world (the Zoroster, the Buddha, the Mohamed, and the Socrates).
The message was: "This is a gift to all of mankind".
When Karl Benz invented the combustive engine in 1886, the problem of shipping oil efficiently across the world's oceans was already solved, sparking the modern car based society we know today. present barony family