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For the Love of a Highland Home: The Fraser Brothers' Indian Quest
This book traces the early 19th century struggle of five Fraser brothers to save their father’s impoverished estate in the Scottish Highlands.
Their experiences in Guyana and India take place in turbulent times - the Napoleonic Wars, the anti-slavery movement, the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Anglo-Nepal war and the changing patterns of life in post- Culloden Highlands.
Against this dramatic background, the book documents the lives of the family at home as well as the adventures of the brothers, drawing extensively on diaries and the copious letters between the boys and their parents in Scotland.
Only one brother comes home, making the preservation of the hundreds of letters, which travelled halfway round the world and back again, even more remarkable.
Their experiences in Guyana and India take place in turbulent times - the Napoleonic Wars, the anti-slavery movement, the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Anglo-Nepal war and the changing patterns of life in post- Culloden Highlands.
Against this dramatic background, the book documents the lives of the family at home as well as the adventures of the brothers, drawing extensively on diaries and the copious letters between the boys and their parents in Scotland.
Only one brother comes home, making the preservation of the hundreds of letters, which travelled halfway round the world and back again, even more remarkable.
406 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 3, 2018
Drawing on a rich collection of family letters, Kathy Fraser tells the story of a Scottish family during the first half of the nineteenth century – chiefly five brothers who went or were sent out into the empire to try to restore the family fortunes. The title is apt: most of them longed to return to their family’s Highland home near Inverness, and their exertions and sacrifices were directed towards keeping it in the family. The book records a family’s experience of empire, without drawing much on other sources – and the detail in the letters is sufficient to sustain a remarkable narrative. Most of the story is set in Scotland and India, though two of the brothers tried their luck in the West Indies, and one made remarkable journeys across Persia. It’s an often poignant narrative. Three of the brothers succumbed to illness, one was assassinated, and only one, the artist James Baillie Fraser, lived beyond the age of fifty.
Kathy Fraser quotes extensively from the original letters, whose subject matter ranges from advice on cleaning teeth to reflections of the evils of slavery. All the brothers were intelligent and perceptive, and most were torn about their roles as empire builders. James Baillie Fraser’s reflections in the early 1820s anticipate Shashi Tharoor in 2015: a handful of strangers ‘govern the country, not for its political of civil advantage but for their own … we talk of the uprightness of the British administration, the strict adherence to the pledge of Government – the attention paid to Police, in short, the great attention paid to making the people happy – was there ever a more complete fallacy’.
Many well-known names make cameo appearances, including the schoolboy James Stephen, and James Skinner of Skinner’s Horse. Among the thirty colour plates are various family portraits, including the five brothers painted at different times by Raeburn.
All in all, an instructive read and, for historians, a valuable resource.
Kathy Fraser quotes extensively from the original letters, whose subject matter ranges from advice on cleaning teeth to reflections of the evils of slavery. All the brothers were intelligent and perceptive, and most were torn about their roles as empire builders. James Baillie Fraser’s reflections in the early 1820s anticipate Shashi Tharoor in 2015: a handful of strangers ‘govern the country, not for its political of civil advantage but for their own … we talk of the uprightness of the British administration, the strict adherence to the pledge of Government – the attention paid to Police, in short, the great attention paid to making the people happy – was there ever a more complete fallacy’.
Many well-known names make cameo appearances, including the schoolboy James Stephen, and James Skinner of Skinner’s Horse. Among the thirty colour plates are various family portraits, including the five brothers painted at different times by Raeburn.
All in all, an instructive read and, for historians, a valuable resource.
March 17, 2019
Really interesting and so well researched piece of local history. What an interesting, though at times traumatic, life the Fraser boys had. I am very familiar with the area of the family estate and the legacy they have left re the lovely ‘Fairy Glen’ walks. This helped set the scene and sense of place for me Ivam sure but the writing is vivid enough to do this for all readers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews