Traditional Sheriffs of Inverness, Lord Lovat frequently perambulated his estate arresting lawless marauders and punishing delinquents.
A 'precept of sasine' guaranteed the king's support for Thomas' claim to his father's estates, as well as third to the barony of Aird and Abertarff, and to many other lands in the Glenelg.
Lovat claimed the precedence of Viking courts held high on a hill when he tried to regulate everything from the price of food to clothing.
In one case he unlawfully appointed the chaplain to Inverness parish church, which under Sheriff court law was not in his gift of patronage, and alienated right to Sir Nicholas Barron.
But when in 1518 his kin, James Fraser, bishop of Moray wished to presentment, and yet Lovat yielded the living to Sir John Scot.