The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
‘Super rich’ family star in 1923 Arbroath movie.
Family shown at their Cairnie Hill mansion in the 1920s
A family film has provided a glimpse of the “idyllic lifestyle of the super-rich in 1920s Arbroath”.
The British Film Institute has released a 14-minute clip of the Fraser family at their mansion in the town’s Cairnie Hill in 1928.
The family were thought to be rather competitive about their cars, and this film was believed to have been made by a professional photographer to be sent to relatives in Argentina.
It showcases the house, grounds and staff, as well as the fleet of luxurious cars including a Rolls-Royce Twenty complete with chauffeur.
The film features Robert Fraser of Arbroath and his wife who retired to Arbroath from Argentina just before the outbreak of the First World War.
Mr Fraser’s great-granddaughter Virginia, who lives in Montrose, said it was marvellous to the see the film being made so widely available.
She said: “My father had this old film and in a fit of de-cluttering had given it to a cousin who lives in the USA.
“He found it years later and sent it back so that I could have it recorded and then safely archived and donated to the Scottish Film Archive.
“My father spent most of his school holidays at Cairnie Hill.
“He often spoke about the cars and remembered being asked to stoke up the burner on a steam car owned by one of his great uncles.
“I believe the Frasers were the first family in Arbroath to have motor cars.”
Mrs Fraser said she chuckled when she read the BFI’s description of the family as being ‘super-rich’. She said: “Super-rich? “My great-grandparents were welloff, yes, but none of the family were ever super-rich as far as I know.
“In fact, my grandmother told me that when she married Robert Junior, their entire fortune was 100 gold sovereigns which she carried in a little leather pouch under her skirts,” added Mrs Fraser.