James Jack
The Fletcher family, which owned the Rosehaugh estate after the Mackenzies, were significant benefactors to the village of Avoch.
James Jack (later Fletcher)
James Jack was born in Elgin in 1807. It is said his father, William Jack, originated from Avoch, but no records survive to confirm this. Along with his brothers, he attended Elgin Academy and received what the Elgin Courier described at the time as an “excellent education”. Three of the boys, James, John and Charles, showed business acumen, and left Elgin to apply their skills in Liverpool. John and James founded a trading house in Liverpool , and became involved in the importing of alpaca - a wool of long silken fibres.
James’ and John’s wool trade continued to flourish, and there is evidence they traded in llama and vicuna wool too.
Frederica Mary StephenIn 1852, James married Frederica Mary Stephen in London. Frederica was the widow of Lieutenant Alexander Macleod Hay of the 58th regiment who had died in 1849.
Both James and John changed their name to Fletcher in 1855 - their mother having died earlier that same year. A notice in the London Gazette of the time noted that “The Queen has been pleased to give and grant unto James Jack.... Her Royal licence and authority that he....shall henceforth assume the name of Fletcher, instead of that of Jack”.
James died unexpectedly on 1 October 1885. His total estate amounted to more than £1,394,000.
Click here for photos of Rosehaugh today (Sep 2010)
source: http://www.avoch.org/html/james_jack.html