The Mystery Of The Fraser Ring

William Fraser (1834-1906), a great grandfather on my mother’s side, left his native Scotland in 1858 for Canada.  Settling in the hamlet of West McGillivray, Ontario, he in due course raised a family there and carried on business as the local shopkeeper.  Amongst the possessions of William Fraser at the time of his death was an interesting inscribed gold ring which has since been passed down through subsequent generations. Its significance was always something of a mystery.

Recent research has, however, determined that the ring is what is known as a hair buckle ring with a recessed band of woven hair placed within an outer band of gold fashioned in the shape of a belt. Using woven hair as part of jewellery was particularly fashionable during the Victorian era when it was most typically used in mourning rings. Such rings in memory of a deceased family member
would often contain woven hair from that relative that would be set into the piece.  Apart from mourning rings, woven hair was also used in sentimental pieces commemorating a strong attachment between the parties. Based on the inscription on the interior of the band, the Fraser ring appears to have been such a sentimental piece.

The inscription on the inner band, reading “To SHF From Her Brother GF”, suggest that the ring was

been a gift to his sister while GF was still alive.  Although the letter “F” found in the two sets of initials was always assumed to refer to the family name Fraser, ascertaining the names of the Frasers in question initially proved elusive since there was nothing known about the family William Fraser left in Scotland before his emigration.

Those details have, however, to some extent now been pieced together through access to various
Scottish archival records for the family. It has been learned that William Fraser’s father, also William Fraser, was baptised in Paisley on November 23, 1794.  On May 18, 1822 he married Jane Howat, baptised in nearby Renfrew on October 26, 1794.  The significance of the inscription on the ring became clear upon examination of the birth records of the six children of this marriage, including our William Fraser.  They are:

                   Janet Fraser                 Born August 26, 1823

                   Sarah Howat Fraser  Born August 30, 1827

                   James Fraser               Born September 23, 1829

                   George Fraser           Born June 15, 1832

                   William Fraser              Born June 16, 1834

                   John Fraser                  Born November 28, 1836 

The names of William Fraser’s siblings clearly suggest that the initials on the ring refer to William’s brother George Fraser and his sister Sarah Howat Fraser.  Although the date the ring was gifted is unknown, one might speculate that it would have been no earlier than the 1850s when George would have been an adult.  It seems reasonably clear that the hair used was from a lock of George’s hair meant, as was then the fashion, as a remembrance of him and a keepsake for his sister. 

Although it has been possible to piece together the significance of the initials, the enduring mystery is why the ring eventually ended up in Canada in the possession of William Fraser.  This is all the more so since there is nothing in oral family tradition or available records to suggest that any of the Frasers, other than William, ever emigrated.  The history of the ring after it was gifted by George to his sister Sarah Howat Fraser to a large extent remain missing pieces of the puzzle. 

Although research has determined that Sarah died unmarried in Glasgow on July 13, 1890, no trace of George has been found following his appearance on the 1861 census for Paisley when, listed as a joiner, he is found on his own lodging with a local family. It is unknown when George died or if he left any descendants. One would expect in the normal course of events that the ring would have still been in Sarah’s possession at the time of her 1890 death. Assuming that was in fact the case, then the ring for some reason was then passed on to William in Canada after his sister's death, possibly as a remembrance of her. Another possibility is that William received the ring from Sarah before his 1858 emigration to as a memento from her.  

Since it is likely that the real answer to why and when the ring ended up in Canada will never be known, the ring seems destined to remain a family keepsake with no more than fanciful notions about the reason for its eventual journey to Canada. 

                                                                                                                                David Arntfield