Hamilton

My 4th Great Grandfather, John Hamilton, led an extraordinary life during one of Ireland’s most tumultuous era’s. In 1998 he was the subject of a book written by the author Dermot James detailing wonderfully his life and times:

John Hamilton of Donegal 1800-1884: This Recklessly Generous Landlord - published by the Woodfield Press.

It was at the height of my genealogy work that I discovered the book had just been published and was ecstatic that an ancestor of mine was the subject of an entire publication. I ordered a copy immediately from a bookshop on The Diamond in Donegal Town and waited three weeks for it to arrive to Australia. I was overjoyed to be able to take a brief respite from my research and sit and read information that I possibly would never have been able to gather personally - Dermot had done it all ! to be able to read a book detailing so well the life and times of your own ancestor was such a priviledge.

John Hamilton, the father of Mary Hamilton ( my 3rd Great Grandmother) inherited the family estate of Brownhall in County Donegal at the age of 18 but officially took possession at the age of 20. He was to become a landlord with a difference through times of extreme hardship for many in Ireland, Co Donegal being no exception, and was to become a legend renowned for his concern for the tenants on his lands and his overwhelming generosity towards them. During the great famine his tenants were never evicted from their homes as was the case for so many other poor folk, victims of their unsympathetic and often greedy landlords.

It will be a sheer joy to recount the outline of his life here; for those of you who wish to read more in detail I urge you to seek out and purchase a copy of the book itself. Last time I checked, a few months back, very few copies were currently in print with just one being offered on Amazon UK. You could always try The Four Masters bookshop in Donegal Town itself.

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The family was:

John Hamilton - born 1800 Dublin. Died 13th June 1884 St Andrews, Scotland. Married Mary Rose 1st May 1823 Calrossie, Scotland..

Mary Rose - born 1804 - Calrossie, Scotland. Died 1854 St Ernans House Co. Donegal.

Their children :

1 ) James Hamilton - born Brownhall Co. Donegal. Served in the military as Major James Hamilton. Married 1863 to Dorothea Elizabeth Stewart of Horn Head Co. Donegal. Inherited estate of Brownhall in 1884 on the death of his father John. Took guardianship of sister Mary’s four children on the death of her and her husband Frederick A. Courbarron in 1877. Major James Hamilton died 1915.

James and Dorothea had one son, John Stewart Hamilton 1864-1952. As Capt John Hamilton he served with the 5th Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. (Married Winifred Weston 1867-1950).

2) Mary - born 1825. Died 1877 Landulph England. Married 1862 Frederick Augustus Courbarron. Lived Jersey Channel islands. Four children - Augustus James (my GG Grandfather), Stanhope Frederick, Edward and Helen.

3 ) Isabella - born 1827 St Ernans House Co. Donegal. Died from ‘mysterious illness’ 1840 Karlsruhe, Germany. Buried there.

4) Arabella Rose - born 1829 at St Ernans. Married 1860 to Arthur Foster, a Judge. On the death of their father, John’s brother James inherited estate of Brownhall while Arabella inherited St Ernans house. She and and husband Arthur Foster were responsible for the sale of St Ernans House in 1904.

5) Helen - born 2nd March 1831 St Ernans House Co. Donegal. Married Abraham Gustav de Veer 20th August 1855 at Neuwied. They had one son, Gustav Hamilton de Veer born 18th August 1856, died 1872.

There were also two step-siblings. After the death of mother, Mary Rose, father John remarried in 1858 to Mary Simpson. Two children were born - John Pakenham Hamilton and Catherine.

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Mary was born in 1825 to John Hamilton (b 1800) and Mary Rose (b 1804); her mother was the daughter of Hugh Rose of Calrossie, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. John and Mary married at Calrossie Scotland on 1st May 1823.

Mary was the second child of John and Mary, here is the list of children in order of their birth:

James - born 3rd June 1824 at Brownhall

Mary - born 1825 at Brownhall

Isabella - born 1827 at St Ernans (died at Karlsruhe Germany at age 13)

Arabella Rose - born 1829 at St Ernans

Helen - born 1831 at St Ernans

In 1857 the family lost their wife and mother, Mary, when she died at St Ernans. In 1858 John Hamilton married another Mary (Mary Simpson) and form this marriage two more children were born: John and Catherine.

Mary was born into a closeknit and very loving home. Her parents, John and Mary, were devoted to each other and to their children. At an early age Mary developed a love of writing and her talent resulted in a series of diaries that she began to keep from the age of ten.

In 1838 John Hamilton took the family on a series of travels that would take them away from Ireland, and across much of Europe, for just on five years. The family set out from Dublin and their first port of call was Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Here Mary recorded the family’s stay and how they walked around the famous old ramparts of the city. It was on this very long voyage that her writing and her series of journals took shape. She wrote vividly and with style recording in great detail every step of the family’s travels.

In 1839 whilst the family was in Dresden Mary sat for a studio portrait. This photograph of her aged 14 is said to be the first actual ‘portrait sitting’ in the new art of photography. Whereby the lithograph was the style of the time, Mary was the subject of the first studio portrait. This photograph still exists today, being lovingly kept by the present Hamilton family. The photograph was taken by Feich-Hanfstaengh Hofphotograph, Dresden.

In 1840, whilst in Karlsruhe, the family suffered a tragedy from which John and Mary never fully recovered. The family had rented a chalet-style home on the edge of the Black Forest and lived there for about a year. It was here that their 13 year old daughter, Isabella, became extremely ill. She developed a series of high fevers and despite being treated by a number of doctors the child died. It is thought that she was suffering from Brights Disease (a kidney condition) but to this day the exact condition that killed her remains a mystery. Isabella was buried in a nearby cemetery in a plot donated by a close family friend.

Mary Hamilton - aged 14 at Dresden, 1839.

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