author
Alexander Fraser
1860–1936
A Scottish-born journalist and historian who became Ontario’s first provincial archivist, he spent decades preserving records and writing about Canadian history. His work joined careful research with a clear public mission: making the past easier to understand.
3 Audiobooks
The Ontario Archives: Scope of its Operations
by Alexander Fraser
Gearr-sgeoil air Sir Seoras Uilleam Ros
by Alexander Fraser
The Clan Fraser in Canada: Souvenir of the First Annual Gathering
by Alexander Fraser
About the author
Born near Inverness, Scotland, in 1860, he moved to Canada in 1886 and built an unusually varied career as a journalist, public lecturer, historian, and militia officer. He worked in Toronto journalism before becoming a major figure in Ontario’s historical and archival life.
From 1903 to 1935, he served as the first Archivist of Ontario, helping shape the province’s early archival work. He also served as secretary to the lieutenant-governor of Ontario from 1914 to 1933. Sources describing his life consistently note his commitment to collecting, preserving, and interpreting historical records for a wider public.
As a writer, he is especially associated with works on Ontario and Canadian history, including The History of Ontario. He died in 1936, remembered not only as an author but as one of the people who helped preserve the documentary memory of Ontario.