Obituaries Australia

The death occurred in the Aramac hospital on the 12th September, after a brief illness, of Mr. Sydney Harold Fraser, a prominent grazier, sportsman, and local authority representative in Queensland. Mr. Fraser, who was born in Roma, spent practically his entire life in the Aramac district, patterning it along almost identical lines to that of his father, the late Sydney P. Fraser.

He gained his early experience in the sheep and wool industry by working with his father on Bowen Downs, and in 1909 selected Rankin, a resumption of Bowen Downs, where he resided until his death. Mr. Fraser was interested in all forms of sport and gained for himself a large circle of friends through these activities. In the racing world he was well known as an owner and an official, being president of the Aramac Jockey Club, and later the Aramac Amateur Club. He was also a foundation member of the Barcaldine Club, and was for many years chairman of the Aramac branch of the Graziers' Association.

In local authority affairs Mr. Fraser served as chairman of the Aramac Shire Council for 16 years, and as a member for another 12 years. His father had previously been chairman of the council, and during the latter's period of office in 1908, the council borrowed the then large sum of £80,000 for the construction of a private railway between Barcaldine and Aramac, a distance of 40 miles. The undertaking was completed in 1912 and the line is still in operation.

In 1920 the late Mr. Fraser married Miss Edna Doris Rosser, the then matron-in-charge of the Aramac District Hospital, and they had two sons, Ian and Malcolm. Ian was killed in action in Palestine, but Mr. Fraser is survived by his wife, his younger son Malcolm, and his sister, Mrs. J. M. Gray Buchanan.