Editing Fraserburgh (section)

===16th and 17th century: Origins===
The town takes its name from the [[Frasers of Philorth|Fraser family]], who bought the lands of Philorth in 1504 and brought about major improvements in the area over the next century.{{fact|date=January 2024}}

By 1570, the Fraser family had built Fraserburgh Castle at [[Kinnaird Head]] and within a year a church was built for the area. [[Alexander Fraser (died 1623)|Sir Alexander Fraser]] built a port in the town in 1579, obtained a charter establishing it as a [[burgh of barony]] in 1588 and secured the right to change the name from Faithlie to Fraserburgh in 1592.<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-10099|title=Fraser, Sir Alexander, of Philorth (1537–1623)|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/10099|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|access-date=23 September 2021|last1=Wells|first1=R. P.}}</ref>

A grant from the [[Parliament of Scotland]] in 1595 allowed Sir Alexander Fraser to erect [[Fraserburgh University|the town's first college building]], and in 1597 the [[General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|General Assembly]] of the [[Church of Scotland]] recommended the Rev. [[Charles Ferme]], then minister at the Old Parish, to be its first and only principal.<ref>(ed.) [[Thomas Thomson (advocate)|Thomson, Thomas]], ''Acts and Proceedings of the General Assemblies of the Kirk of Scotland'', Church of Scotland General Assembly, Edinburgh, 1845.</ref>{{contradictory-inline|Fraserburgh University|date=June 2024}}

In 1601, Fraserburgh became a [[burgh of regality]]. The college, however, closed only a decade or so after Ferme's arrest on the orders of James VI for taking part in the 1605 [[General Assembly of Aberdeen]], being used again only for a short time in 1647 when [[King's College, Aberdeen]] temporarily relocated owing to an outbreak of plague. A plaque commemorating the university's existence may be seen at the Fraserburgh Heritage Centre.{{fact|date=January 2024}}