Hamilton

My GGG Grandmother Mary Hamilton was born at the family residence on her father’s estate of Brownhall, Co. Donegal, in 1825. Her parents were John Hamilton and Mary Rose.

The estate of Brownhall had been inherited by her father and had been in the family since the late 17th century. The family seat of Brownhall, a substantial house, is actually located a few km’s away outside the village of Ballintra and hidden amongst the hills and valleys; the house was built by John Hamilton in 1690 when he moved the family seat from Murvagh to Ballintra. No trace remains of the original house today and is thought to have been constructed in the early 1600’s.

Mary was born into one of the great landowning families of Ireland of the time. The Hamilton’s established themselves in Co Donegal in the late 16th century when John Hamilton, a grandson of the 1st Duke of Hamilton, was granted land by the King in gratitude for their loyal service. The Hamilton seat from which John came was in Lanarkshire Scotland and named ‘Broomhill’. The first residence was built at Murvagh near Ballintra until 1690 when his descendant, John Hamilton and his wife Jane Creighton (daughter of Col Abraham Creighton, ancestor of the Earls of Erne) built a new residence outside Ballintra. The location of Murvagh is a windswept region in contrast to the area of Ballintra where the land and terrain is far more arable and given to farming. Possibly this was the reason for the move.

Mary’s father, John, inherited the estate on the death of his father James Hamilton in 1805. Mary’s grandparents were James Hamilton and Helen Pakenham, daughter of the 2nd Baron/Ist Earl of Longford Edward Micheal Pakenham. Sadly James and Helen died at relatively young ages, James in 1805 and Helen in 1807, leaving three young children with Mary’s father, John, being the eldest at only seven years of age.

The three children, John (b-1800), Edward Micheal (b-1802) and Catherine (Kitty b-1804) were placed in the care and guardianship of their aunt and uncle Arthur and Catherine (Kitty) Wellesley; the Duke and Duchess of Wellington.

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