It is safe to assume that John and Isabella met through their fathers who were both military men of the time – Isabella’s father being Col. William Stewart and John’s father being Capt. James Hamilton with his own martial connection to the Creighton family of Col. Abraham Creighton, grandfather of the Ist Earl of Erne.

So it was from Killymoon Castle in Cookstown, County Tyrone, to Brownhall in County Donegal that young Isabella Stewart rode in horse and carriage to begin her life as Mrs John Hamilton. John and Isabella were married in 1770 and their children were:

1. James b.21.10.1771 – d.1805 (married Lady Helen Pakenham, sister of Thomas,Earl Longford)

2. Abraham b. 25.06.1773 – d.1861

3. Eleanor b&d – 1 June 1774

4. William Stewart b. 13.06.1775. Married in 1807 the Hon. Henrietta Blackwood, daughter of Hans, 3rd Baron Dufferin & Clandeboye of Co. Down.

5. John b 17.08.1777 – died in infancy

6. Henry b. 21.10.1778 – died in infancy

7. Henry Alexander b 30.09.1779

8. Dorothea b 16.09.1780

9. Robert b 20.02.1781 – stillborn.

The couple had a large family and Isabella was known as a very loving and fond grandmother to her many grandchildren. Below is a portrait of Isabella and her three grandchildren – John, Edward and Catherine Hamilton, thought to be painted at Brownhall.

This graveyard is at the end a of tiny, narrow country lane off the main road outside Ballintra and the Hamilton vault is over to the right of the cemetery. The last Hamilton to be buried in this vault was Sheila Marion Hamilton in 1976 – the vault had been unused for several generations at this time and it was by her own special request she was interred in it.

John and Isabella posed for a portrait which was painted by a renowned artist of the time (which for now escapes me though I have a print of the portrait) and the couple are shown sitting at a small table – this table still has pride of place in Brownhall house today. This painting was listed in Christie’s catalogue in the mid-1990’s – I do not know who owns this portrait today.

John Hamilton died in 1811 – Isabella died in 1832. Both are interred in the Hamilton vault in the now unused Drumholm graveyard just outside Ballintra. This was the site of the original Drumholm church and is accessed via a narrow lane off the main highway. The last Hamilton to be interred in this vault was Sheila Marion Hamilton in 1982(?). She made a special request to be buried in the vault which had not been used for several generations.

The couple were married in Dublin near to Helen’s family residence of Upper Merrion Street, she was the 6th child of Edward Micheal Pakenham, Ist Earl Longford and Catherine Rowley.

Her siblings were:

1. Elizabeth Pakenham: 1769 - 1851 m Henry Stewart of Tyrcallen, Co. Tyrone

2.Mary Pakenham: 1770 - 1787

3. Catherine (Kitty) Sarah Dorothea Pakenham: 1772 – 1831 m Arthur Wellesley Ist Duke of Wellington

4. Frances Pakenham: 1773 – 1774

5. Thomas Pakenham (2nd Earl Longford): 1774 – 1835 m Georgiana Emma Charlotte Lygon

6. Gen Sir Edward Micheal Pakenham: 1778 – 1815

7. Caroline Penelope Pakenham: 1780 – ? m Henry Hamilton

8. Maj. Gen. Sir Hercules Rowley Pakenham: 1781 – 1850 m Emily Stapleton

9. Capt. William Pakenham: 1782 – 1811

10. Henry Pakenham: 1787 – 1863 m Eliza Catherine Sandford

James Hamilton had inherited the estate of Brownhall from his father John and the couple took up residence after their marriage, though they divided their time between the estate in Co Donegal and Dublin. During their absence John’s brother Abraham and his family occupied the house of Brownhall.

The couple had three children:

1. John Hamilton: 1800 – 1884

2. The Rev. Edward Micheal Hamilton: 1802 – 1861 m Martha Anne Fortescue

3. Catherine Hamilton: 1803 – 1871 m Rev. William Henry Foster of Loughgilly

The marriage was tragically brief with James dying at the age of 30 in 1805. Helen died two years later and the care of the three children was taken over by Helen’s sister Catherine Wellesley (later Duchess of Wellington), their maternal grandmother Lady Longford and their paternal grandmother Isabella (Stewart) Hamilton. Within a short time the children were cared for full-time by the Pakenham family due to the advanced age of their much loved grandmother Isabella and the more beneficial surrounds of Dublin.

With John being the eldest (and heir to Brownhall ) his uncle Arthur Wellesley, then Chief Secretary for Ireland, took particular interest in his education and saw that he eventually attended Cambridge University in England. Through this John was granted his Degree after just 2 years due to a very old law which stated that direct male descendants of the Monarch could gain their qualification in a shorter time. John, of course, was descended from King Edward Ist .

John Hamilton would later recall with great affection and gratitude the loving environment into which he and his orphaned siblings were accepted into by his mother Helen’s family. His little sister Catherine, named for their mother’s sister, would grow to be extremely close to the woman later known as ‘Kitty’ Wellington – and she too in turn would be known by the name Kitty throughout her life.

In 1823, at the age of 18, Mary married 23 year old John Hamilton of Brownhall, Co. Donegal. John was a close friend of Mary’s brother and the two men had attended Cambridge University together.

Mary died at St Ernans House in 1854. St Ernans House was the family’s preferred residence and, while part of the estate, situated on a wooded island in the Donegal Bay.

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.

Contemporary photo of Brownhall House. The long offshoot to the right is the original house built by John Hamilton and Jane Crichton in 1697.

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.

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.

Mary Rose, first wife of John Hamilton. My 4th Great-Grandmother.

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

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.

Mary Hamilton aged 13. Photo taken Dresden, Germany.

The estate of Brownhall had been inherited by her father and had been owned by the Hamiltons 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 1697 when he moved the original family seat from the coastal area of Murvagh to Ballintra. No trace remains of the original Murvagh house today and is thought to have been constructed in the very late 1590’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 and descendent of Gilbert de Hamildone, was granted land by the Throne 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 1697 when his descendant, John Hamilton and his wife Jane Crichton (daughter of Col Abraham Crichton, ancestor of the Earls of Erne) built a new residence outside Ballintra. The location of Murvagh is a windswept coastal 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. John officially took control of the estate of Brownhall at the age of 21.

St Ernans House as it stands today. The house was sold in 1907 and was a Guest House until the present owners recently retired. St Ernans is privately owned.

We do know that Frederick and Mary married in Ballintra, Co. Donegal, and began married life on the Courbarron farm in Millbrook, St Helier. In 1863 their first child, a son Augustus James Hamilton, was born. He was followed by Stanhope Frederick in 1865, John Edward Hamilton in 1866 and finally Helen in 1867.

The family are listed on the British Isles Census for 1871.

In 1877 Frederick and Mary, accompanied by the four children, were en route to Ireland and whilst in Cornwall contracted typhoid. Tragically both Mary and Frederick died within months of each other. Both are buried in Landulph Church, Saltash Cornwall. It was quite some time before a headstone was placed on their grave, the reason being a lack of finances at the time. Their son Augustus James saw to it some twenty years later that a headstone was erected on his parent’s graves.

Back in the mid-90’s, and pre-computer, it was a slow process of writing letters by hand (remember doing that?) and waiting for replies to arrive. A basic enquiry would take about 2/3 weeks to go around. That’s how I did my Channel Islands research back then. Well, all my research really. But now, onto Frederick and Mary. This section will go into several chapters I suspect; not so much on Frederick ( until I get more info on his parents, etc) but as Mary was a ‘Brownhall’ Hamilton there is a raft of stuff about her and her very fascinating life.

This is where it all gets fun.

Frederick Augustus Courbarron was born 1826 in Jersey in the Channel Islands. Not alot is known at this stage about his parents but I do know that his father’s name was Augustus Courbarron and he was born around 1805 in Jersey to French parents from Brittany. His mother, too, was born in Jersey of French parentage. His parents arrived in the Channel Islands from France around 1800/01 and Frederick and several siblings are listed on a ‘people count’ (not actually a census) from the year 1805.

Fredericks parents were farmers on the island, possibly in the town of Millbrook as that is where his own children were born later on. Farms tended to remain in families in those days so it is a good assumption that Frederick inherited his father’s farm.

One common memory of Mum and her sisters was that Mildred, their grandmother, was not the nicest of people; a staunch Roman Catholic, a regular churchgoer, overbearing and interfering to the point where she played a major part in the breakdown of her own daughter’s marriage. It was generally held that, until her death from a stroke in 1963, she was and remained a bitter and unpleasant old woman. She liked to get her own way at all times and made sure that her adult children, my grandfather Allan in particular, came running to fuss over her when she found she was not at the centre of attention. Mum’s family lived the closest to her home in Victoria Ave so her Dad was often the one who had to drop whatever he was doing and go to call on her. That and the fact that his other siblings refused to pander to her tantrums. So it was usually poor Pop.
Mum said that there was only one way that Pop could bring her out of one of her ’sulks’; this would involve her taking to her bed and feigning illness – and that was for Pop to hurry to the corner shop and buy her the Sydney Herald ( the ‘herld’ as she pronounced it ) and a small bottle of brandy. He would present them to her, sit and pat her hand for an hour then she would be happy. Of course the brandy made a big difference to her change of attitude; he would then leave her contentedly reading the obituaries, her favourite section.

Mum said she was an old ranter about anything and gossiped about everyone, her husband Patrick Hopkins, a dear and kind man, took refuge from life with her by means of a relatively early death at the age of 57. ‘Nagged to death’ as Mum puts it. Most of the family ignored her gossip and nonsense and took much of what she said with a grain of salt. But there was one thing she sometimes spoke about that was interesting: she would often talk about her father’s mother who was descended from royalty and grew up the daughter of a wealthy landowner back in Ireland. Mum said she referred to this estate in Ireland as ‘Brownhall’ and would refer to people such as the Duke of Wellington as being a relative. Only a few of the family took much notice of her when she was in one of her ‘Brownhall’ moods, with some saying to her ‘Oh be quiet Mildred, that’s just the brandy talking’.

The brandy may have been responsible for her opening up about her family’s origins, but it turned out she was actually telling the truth!. Her paternal grandmother, Mary Hamilton, was the daughter of John Hamilton (b.1802) of Brownhall in County Donegal. The estate had been in the Hamilton family since 1690 and John’s mother, Lady Helen Pakenham, was in fact the sister-in-law of Arthur Wellesley, Ist Duke of Wellington. So Mildred HAD been in fact correct to some point, though he was related to the family through marriage to Helen’s sister Catherine (Kitty).

As all this came to light, in it’s correct and more factual form, the family was surprised and delighted that old Mildred was not as batty as they had all deemed her to be. I have been able to piece together bit by bit the truth behind Mildred’s background and her descendancy from a number of aristocratic families down through the centuries. It makes for fascinating reading; what started out as folklore has grown into over 22 generations of an unbroken line. I wonder what she would say to all that?.