Anna Maria Fraser

Anna Maria Fraser was born in Barbados in 1811, the daughter of Mary Stuart or Stewart (probably a free woman of colour) and William Fraser of Cromarty. William Fraser [1797/8-1830] owned Goldstone Hall plantation in Berbice and in his will left his estate to be divided between relations in Scotland and his children – Anna Maria in Barbados and three others in Berbice.

However, William Fraser was in financial difficulties at the time of his death and Anna Maria may have received little. In 1834, when slaves were freed, she wrote from Douglas Row, Inverness, to the colonial secretary in London stating that ‘the only money I possessed I laid out in the purchase of a negro slave’ and seeking advice on claiming compensation. She received £35 9s 10d.

Anna Maria died in Inverness in 1892.