Sir William Fraser, 1st Baronet

Sir William Fraser, 1st Baronet FRS (1737 – 10 February 1818) was a Scottish shipowner who was involved with the East India Company.

Early life He was the son of William Fraser of Ledeclune and the former Helen Ross (a daughter of William Ross of Monquieth, Scotland).

Career He joined the East India Company in 1760 and by 1772 had become Captain of the Lord Mansfield, which was lost on the Bengal River in 1773. He was commander of the Earl of Mansfield from 1777 to 1785 with his final voyage during the 1783 to 1784 season. He was particularly notable as being one of the first to fix the longitude at sea through lunar observation. The reference on the map to New Guinea suggests that Fraser was involved with the efforts of Thomas Forest in 1774 to explore New Guinea and establish for the East India Company its trading potential.

He was made Fellow of the Royal Society in 1791 and an Elder Brethren of Trinity House. The 5th Fraser of Ledeclune, on 27 November 1806, he was created a baronet of Ledeclune in the County of Inverness in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. who died, unmarried, in India. Sir James John Fraser, 3rd Baronet (1789–1834), who married Charlotte Anne Craufurd, daughter of Daniel Craufurd (a son of Sir Alexander Craufurd, 1st Baronet). Anne Fraser, who married Col. Henry Edward Keane, son of Sir John Keane, 1st Baronet 1818. Jemima Maria Fraser, who married Rev. Joseph Henry Taylor in 1820.

Through his daughter Jean, he was a grandfather of Sir Thomas Fraser Grove, 1st Baronet.