Lionel Fraser

William Lionel Fraser CMG (15 June 1895 – 2 January 1965 ) was a British banker and self-made millionaire.

Early life Lionel Fraser was born in London, the second of four children of Scotsman Harry Fraser and Alice Barnard. Harry Fraser was butler to Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of the Selfridges department store chain.

Lionel Fraser attended St Mary Abbots higher grade church school in Kensington, London, but he also attended other schools from time to time, as his parents moved around the UK for work. Aged thirteen, Fraser received a scholarship to attend Pitman's School, which was where he received intensive training in French, German, Spanish, as well as in shorthand, typing, and accounts.

In 1963, he published his memoirs, All to the Good.

Personal life In 1931, he married Cynthia Elizabeth Walter. They had two sons and a daughter. Their only daughter, Janet, along with her fiancé, Richard Proby (youngest son of Sir Richard Proby, 1st Baronet), was killed in a car accident on 14 March 1958.

Fraser was a devout Christian Scientist. He died on 2 January 1965 of bronchial pneumonia and cancer at his home, 30 Charles Street, London. His memorial service was held on 19 January 1965 at the Church of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate in the City of London.