Fraser, John Foster

Sir John Foster Fraser (13 June 1868 – 7 June 1936) was a Scottish travel author. In July 1896, he and two friends, Samuel Edward Lunn and Francis Herbert Lowe, took a bicycle trip around the world riding Rover safety bicycles. They covered 19,237 miles in two years and two months, travelling through 17 countries and across three continents. He documented the trip in the book Round the World on a Wheel. Between books he was a journalist. In 1901 while working for The Yorkshire Post he wrote, among other things, a 16-page description of Queen Victoria's funeral. In the UK in 1916 he lectured on What I Saw in Russia. His works were coloured by the prejudices and perceptions that were prevalent among his social class at the time. For example, his 1915 book The Conquering Jew contains many sweeping generalizations about international Jewish communities that blend philosemitic and antisemitic assumptions. Fraser was knighted in the 1917 Birthday Honours. He died in London on 7 June 1936.