Friday 3 May 2013

Old photo investigation Part 2 -- The Hamiltons of Fintra

Above is the second of the two original photos I pulled out, almost at random, from the large box of old photos at the fleamarket in Brighton. At that point I hadn't even realised that it was connected to the first. If you haven't read the first instalment of what has become, for me, a very satisfying saga, catch up here.
This is the back of the photo and tells us that it was taken on June 2 1925 at Bitterne, Cleeve Hill, near Cheltenham. The people in the photo are Henry Fitzgerald Reynolds' elderly mother, Matilda, his sister Mabel and his wife Gladys (I confess I'm not 100% sure which of the other two women is which -- I think it's Mabel in front). I imagine Henry was behind the camera on a visit to his mother in what was perhaps her nursing home (she seems to be in a bath chair) or just a lovely quiet house that she had retired to. From the pebbledashed wall and the window panes that you can see, I think the house must have been this one or one like it, with a view over the valley below:
Or perhaps this is a photo of Henry's mother's house, among the pictures I found on my second trip to Brighton:
I love this funny, skewed photo, taken in September the previous year -- it looks about right in terms of the windows and walls, but I haven't been able to spot this house on my Google Street View visits to Cleeve Hill. There's no information on the back apart from the date.
     By finding the photo of Henry's mother I've been able to clear up uncertainty about the date of her death. Most of the people researching the Hamilton family (on Ancestry.co.uk and so on) have her death tentatively recorded as 1907 in her native Ireland, but in fact she died in 1930, aged 88, and her death was registered at Winchcombe, very close to Cleeve Hill.
Matilda Hamilton was born in 1842 at Fintra House near Killybegs, in Co. Donegal, Ireland. For a long time I thought that it was the white house on the far side of the bay in this old postcard, just above and to the left of the square tower of St Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church (the nearer church is St John's Church of Ireland Protestant Church). However, a kind commenter has put me right (May 2021): the white house is actually the Glebe House. Fintra House  is out of sight behind the hill beyond the Glebe House! Fintra was built in the late seventeenth century (I think) and  faces a bay: for a long time it was used by passing ships as a landmark, so clearly did it stand out.
The Hamiltons of Fintra House were a well-known branch of the Hamilton family who originally came over from Scotland during the 'Plantation of Ulster' to take over lands forcibly confiscated from the Irish families whose power base the English crown wanted to thoroughly undermine. I'm on very thin ice with my grasp of this history, so if you want to know more, try Wikipedia. Other researchers have done amazing work tracing the Hamiltons back to the time of James II of Scotland. In particular, I consulted a vast tome, published in 1933, called The House of Hamilton by Lieutenant-Colonel George Hamilton:
This is a bit of an aside, but the copy of the book that I was able to borrow from University of Birmingham Library had once been the personal copy of Thomas Erskine Swanzy and had his name and address inside in his own handwriting as well as his bookplate, based on his family coat of arms:
I know this is is T E Swanzy's own handwriting as I was able to compare it to his census form from the 1911 Census when he was Vicar of All Saints Church in Lincoln. Himself a descendant of a very old Irish family, Swanzy was a very keen genealogist who corresponded frequently with Henry Fitzgerald Reynolds on various obscure matters of Irish family history which they both then published in Irish history journals. In fact on the page about 'my' Hamiltons, Henry gets an acknowledgement in the footnotes:
Matilda Hamilton was the youngest of the ten children of James and Ann Hamilton. Ann's maiden name was Hutchinson and she came from Earby Hall near Newsham, which in turn is near Richmond, North Yorkshire, where I come from. I know it's only a tenuous link, but when I saw 'Richmond' popping up in my Ancestry.co.uk searches, I felt even more connected to this family.
     Ann, who was born in 1803, outlived her husband James by 32 years. He left the house to his wife, but after she died in 1881 under the terms of James's will the house and all the land the family owned was supposed to be shared out equally between the children. The will took a long time going through probate but in 1885 Matilda's sister Isabella and her husband Richard Gorringe bought everybody else out and moved into Fintra House. They had ambitious plans and tried to develop the house. They built the clock tower and coach house in 1896 but unfortunately ran into financial problems. In the photo below you can just see the clock tower and the other new buildings to the right of the original house:

The property passed into different hands eventually and, sadly, the house was burnt down in 1923 during the Troubles (although according to my kind Killybegs commenter, it was rebuilt before finally being demolished in the 1980s). Today only the Clock Tower remains and is run as a restaurant (below).

Nothing remains of the house itself. As there has been some discussion in the comments about the exact location of the house, here's a map, if helpful (added May 2021).


     On 18 May 1864 Matilda Hamilton married Walter Reynolds of Melton near Hull at Fintra House, which was still occupied by her widowed mother at that date:


'My' Henry was their first-born and they had six children in all. They lived at various addresses in and around Hull. Matilda's husband died in 1893 when she was only 51 and she lived for a further 37 years. In 1901 she was living 'on her own means' in Eastgate House, Cottingham on the outskirts of Hull with her son Walter, a stockbroker (Henry's younger and only brother) and her three surviving daughters (her daughter Kathleen had sadly died in childhood):
Only Henry had flown the nest. He must have gone down to London to get his education in order to become an engineer and analytical chemist. Just before he got married in the summer of 1911 he was renting rooms in this house at 92 Denbigh St, Pimlico:
Then he and Gladys (nee Williams, from Southampton) got married and went to live in Merton Hall Road, Wimbledon. He was 45 when he married, Gladys quite a bit younger at 29.

It would be brilliant if they had lived at no 95 Merton Hall Road, above, with the dragon on the roof, but I have no way of knowing. It must have been a similar house to this one, though.

We'll leave Henry and Gladys for now. In future instalments I'll be looking into Matilda's brother who went to South Africa and America, her nephew who emigrated from South Africa to Australia, and her cousins who settled in the Texas Panhandle, plus my favourite Hamilton, Nancy.

34 comments:

Joanna said...

You have found out so much information about this family. Riveting stuff!

x

nadine paduart said...

i have just now discovered your blog via barbarabee and am intrigued by your way of looking at things gone by, and also remaining. i think i will be back. cheerio, n♥

Victoria Tobin said...

Did you find anything of Louisa Hamilton? Photos or mention, also of Fintra who was born 9 Feb 1832 who was born Fintragh House (note different spelling but same pronunciation) Donegal Ireland. She married Capt John Bertie Cator, and was the mother of the Texas Cators you wrote in your other blog (Arthur "Bob", James Hamilton, Clara, Marion "the meek", Charles, Leslie & Bertie O) Louisa died 1895 in Essex, England

June Freeman said...


Hi!
Just to let you know that I am a Gt. Gt.Grand-daughter of John Bertie Cator and Louisa Hamilton's thru their son Charles Frederick Cator and by his eldest daughter Audrey Emily Theodora Cator (my Grandy) When in my teens back in the 1960's used to keep in contact with Arthur Mills of Surf City in Florida.
I live in Perth Western Australia.

Unknown said...

I am now the owner of Fintra and I'm loving hearing about the Hamilton Family. Ian

Unknown said...

I am now the owner of Fintra and I'm loving hearing about the Hamilton Family. Ian

Unknown said...

I am the gt gt granddaughter of Jane Hamilton, daughter of Richard and Anne. Jane came to NZ with her three sons; Richard, Edward and Orry. We have never been able to find anything of her said husband Edward Hope who never accompanied them to NZ. Jane'd inheritance was embezzled by her mother's second husband Edward Lee, apparently.

Jane Housham said...

Hi Rhonda, thanks so much for reading my blog and for your comment. I don't think I can email you directly because yours is a 'no reply' comment, but if you can email me directly (let me know if you can't find my email address) I'll email you back. My info about Edward Hope and Edward Lee is slightly different...

Unknown said...

Hi Jane
I am a partner of gr gt grandson of Jane Hamilton (New Zealand), daughter of Richard and Anne. In your previous post you mentioned that you have some info about Edward Hope and Edward Lee which is slightly different from Rhonda Bunyan's info above.
I love history and I was investigating for my partner's family what actually happened with Jane. As I understood she had the 3rd son Orry out of marriage (after she was left/separated/widowed (?) from her husband because I have found some census papers of her living in her mother's 2nd husband Edward Lee house with two boys (Richard and Edward) only (no husband was mentioned and Orry her 3rd boy was born later)... I couldn't find anything about her husband neither about her step-father Edward Lee. Would be also interesting to know who was Orry's father because my mother-in-law is actually Orry's great grand-daughter (her grandfather Charles Beresford Hope was one of Orry's children)
I would appreciate if you could email me (or post here) what you know about this story.
Natalya, Auckland, New Zealand

Unknown said...

Hi Jane, do you know any more about Jane Hope's relationship with Edward Lee and Edward Hope. Email rhonda.bugs@xtra.co.nz Many thanks

Unknown said...

Hello, Jane...James Ezekiel Hamilton, born 1816 at Fintragh House, was my thrice-great grandfather; he later settled in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, married, and had 8 children, from which there are hundreds of offspring. He died in Pennsylvania in 1887.

I was excited recently to see the scan of the "Fintragh page" of the "House of Hamilton" book, in your May 2013 blog posting, by Lt.-Col. Geo. Hamilton...that was page 950. Might you have a scan of the next page by any chance? Or any other pages? I am wondering if it had more info on the Fintragh Hamiltons, of which there is little commonly available. Or: can you point me to a good source for more Fintragh information?

James Ezekiel Hamilton's parents and siblings are still not certain to us; although we are fairly certain that most or all of his siblings moved to Liverpool, where they raised their families, and probably died.

Hoping you [or so readers] can help,

Kathleen Hamilton Kallenbach
j_kallenbach@att.net
Grafton, Wisconsin, USA

Cassnipperess85 said...

Im still trying to piece it together ive gone back to james Hamilton 1722-1815 who is my6th great grandfather and his mother hannah Catherine thynne but thats where it all gets confusing some day i hope to see where all my roots are

Joani said...

Hi ...just found this blog. Sarah Gantley Gwendoline Amelia Hamilton is my 4th great grandmother.

JERSEYFOX said...

My husband, on his grandmother O'Donnell side, is the 4th great grandson of James Hamilton and Elizabeth Johnson. Their daughter Sarah Gantley Gwendoline Amelia was reportedly disowned for marrying the Catholic James Lewis O'Donnell the estate manager for her father.

The Hamiltons can be traced back 10 generations from James to the marriage of Sir James Hamilton Baron of Cadzow born 1415 who married Mary Stewart, born 1453, Princess, daughter of King James Stuart II b. 1430. King James' mother was the daughter of John of Gaunt a Plantagenet Duke and son of Edward King of England born 1307.

Joani said...

Hi ...i am.also related through the O' donnell / Hamilton match

Joani said...

Id love to be able to talk to you about them..

Unknown said...

Hi, Joani...I'm not completely sure, but I think your post was directed at me, as I received 2 emails with your name attached. If not, please disregard....

But, if so, I'd be glad to share what I have; in return, I am especially interested in info about the Hamilton families of Fintragh, Donegal, Ireland.

Can you help? If so, please contact me via my email:

Kathleen Hamilton Kallenbach
j_kallenbach@att.net
Grafton, Wisconsin, USA

Tecwyn said...

James Hamilton 1722-1815 was brother to my 5 x G-Grandfather Richard Hamilton. We probably don't have much more info than you've already found out but nice to make contact here.

email: tecwyn.evans@gmail.com

- Richard Hamilton (c.1764-1817)
- Jane Hamilton (1811-1901) married and became Jane Hope. Emigrated to New Zealand.
- Edward Hope
- Harold Hope
- Elizabeth Hope married and become Elizabeth Evans

Unknown said...

Thanks, Tecwyn; glad to know that! Any new Fintragh info is precious!

I'm hoping that we can discuss this a bit further; please check your email for a message from me.

Hoping to hear back from you soon,
Kathleen Hamilton Kallenbach

Unknown said...

Hi, very interesting story. Just a point of correction on the old postcard of Killybegs which shows St. John's Church of Ireland, and the Catholic St. Mary's, well the white house in the distance across Killybegs Harbour is actually the Glebe house, the house that the C of I parish priest of Killybegs lived in. This Glebe house is also known as St. Catherine's. Fintragh House existed when this postcard was produced but is in the next bay West of the town at Fintragh Bay, and couldn't be seen from the town or from the vantage point that this postcard is taken from. Thanks. I work in Killybegs.

Jane Housham said...

Thank you, 'Unknown' (of 18 May 2021), for pointing out my mistake about the white house in the postcard. I'm grateful to you and have corrected the post now. Cheers!

Unknown said...

Yes, I agree that the white building across the bay, as shown on the postcard, must be the Glebe House. I understand that it is still standing, but in ruinous condition?

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding my maps, as well as the black + white photo shown above the clock tower photo in Jane's blog, the site of the Fintragh House should not be "beyond the hill"; it should be very near where the Clock Tower Inn is, to the right of the Glebe House, directly above Fintragh Beach.

Further discussion, and clarification, of this matter would be appreciated :)

Kathleen Hamilton Kallenbach

Jane Housham said...

Hi Kathleen, yes, the site of Fintragh House is just to the west of the Clock Tower restaurant, directly above Fintragh Beach, as you say, but from looking at maps I'd say there is a hill of some sort between the Glebe House and Fintragh Bay, which would mean you wouldn't be able to see Fintragh House from the town of Killybegs. I stand to be corrected, of course, if I'm wrong, as I've never actually visited the site.
I've added a map, just now, above.
Jane

Unknown said...

Hi. Fintragh House was destroyed by fire on the morning of Saturday 23rd March 1923 (not in 1922). The fire was believed to be malicious. The spacious house, worth thousands of pounds at the time was partially furnished and was unoccupied. The owner Mr Thomas James Hamilton Gorringe being resident in London. From the local newspaper the Donegal Democrat.

Thomas James Hamilton Gorringe being the son of Richard Gorringe and Isabella (nee Hamilton)

Fintragh house had not occupied by the Hamilton/Gorringe family for quite a while before it was burnt. In 1915 the entire house was advertised to let for the sum of £25 a month. I think that after Mrs Hamilton died in 1881, that the Hamilton/Gorringe families never stayed there very long, and used it as a holiday retreat mainly living in England. They are not recorded in the 1901 or 1911 censuses of Ireland but are found in the various censuses of England.

Thomas James Hamilton Gorringe died in London in 1926.

Fintragh House was rebuilt in-situ in the 1920s and the rebuilt house was advertised for sale in June 1929. I do not know if the Gorringe's or relatives rebuilt it or sold it in 1929....as it was rebuilt between 1923 and 1929, it may not have been a pile of rubble after the 1923 fire, but perhaps a shell? Some features may have retained? 1929 advertisement states Fintragh House. For Sale. Recently Rebuilt. 3 Reception rooms, 7 bedrooms, dressing room, bathroom, etc. Sea bathing

It was bought and converted into a Country House Hotel and was very well known. It changed hands several times and the Hotel survived until the 1980s. It was demolished in the late 80s or early 90s (not sure when, but was certainly demolished by 1993 when I moved to Killybegs).

As a matter of interest the Fintragh Estate also included another house a stone's throw from Fintragh House itself. Corrin Lodge (sometimes seen spelt as Corran Lodge?) is still standing. It is off the road and can't be seen from the road. I have seen no photos of it. Members of the Hamilton family lived there. It was also offered for rent in 1915 at £15 per month described as having 6 bedrooms and 3 receptions rooms.

Jane Housham said...

Thank you, 'Unknown' commenter, your local knowledge of Killybegs is invaluable. As is increasingly clear, I'm no expert.

Unknown said...

You have been very helpful...thank you very much! I'm sorry that you remain "unknown"; otherwise, I could thank you more personally.

You sound like you might be a Hamilton descendant, with all of your Hamilton and Fintragh knowledge. True? But, if not, as a local historian, you might be of help on future questions. Are you willing?

Again: thank you for your interesting, pertinent, and detailed contributions here!

Kathleen Hamilton Kallenbach
descendant of James Ezekiel Hamilton, b.1816, for sure of Killybegs, but maybe of Fintragh?

Unknown said...

I am trying to find out anything about a drawing we purchased at a flea market in Missouri. The artwork depicts a house in a village, possibly in France. The inscription on the back reads "Mabel Wensel-friend from Gladys Berger Stewart bought in Paris, France 1927". I believe Mabel Wensel is the sister to Henry Fitzgerald Reynolds. If I could attach a picture of the drawing/painting I would.

Jane Housham said...

Hi, 'Unknown' (re your message left 15 Oct 2022)
I'm sorry that I can't contact you directly but there are no contact details for you.
What is it that makes you think your Mabel Wensel is Henry F-G's sister? I don't have any details of 'my' Mabel getting married.
There's a Mabel Wensel on Ancestry who got married in Brazoria, Texas, in 1927, so perhaps the picture was a pre-wedding gift? That Mabel was born in 1906 and married Adolphus Walter Friend in 1927. They seem to have lived in Jacksonville, Texas after that. Could that be her?
Have you found Gladys Berger Stewart online? There's a nice photo of her on https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/zz002dfhjd/ with the information that she boasted membership of the State Assembly, service as an ex-judge of the Circuit Court bench, former Assistant United States Attorney in her State, the only woman on the State Council of the American Bar Association, and mother of her 14-year-old son Jimmy. She was from Missouri so I'm pretty sure that must be her -- but you probably already have all that information. Sorry I can't help any further, unless you have some more details about her link to Henry F-G.
Jane

Anonymous said...

Hi guys, researching the family tree, I have found a will of Thomas Lee of Barnstaple dated 26th of July 1836, the will states that Thomas Lee is leaving Corrin Lodge (Killybegs, Donegal) to his son Edward Lee of Barnstaple. I know that when Richard Hamilton of Fintrah died, his widow Ann Hamilton (Johnston) married Edward Lee (who inherited Corrin Lodge). Later Edward Lee and Ann Hamilton Lee moved to Isle of Man with Ann”s daughter Jane Hamilton Hope and her 2 sons (the 3rd one Orry was born there (Isle of man), census 1851 confirms that. Which makes me think Corrin Lodge didn’t belong to Hamiltons of Fintra already prior to 1836 (may be they bought it back at some point…). Does anyone knows anything about Edmund (or Edward) Hope, mysterious husband of Jane Hamilton Hope? She moved to NZ later, when her mother Ann died and Edward Lee remarried and moved back to Devon)… we are really curious here, who was the father of Orry Hope. Thanks, Natalya Natasha.jda@gmail.com

Jane Housham said...

Hi Natalya
Thanks for your interesting comment. I've looked into Orry Hope before (just via Ancestry, really) and have never managed to pin anything down. I'm not actively researching the Hamiltons at the moment but am more than happy to be a landing place for others who are investigating them. I daren't get caught up in them again as I have other claims on my time at the moment, even though it's tempting...

Tecwyn said...

Thanks Natalya,

my side of the family as per above, have been looking into the mysterious Edward Hope for a long time without success. I've given your email address to my sister who knows more than I do. Orry (Orry Hamilton HOPE b. Aug 1843 Glendoo, Isle of Man) was brother to my g-grandfather Edward. Jane was my gg-grandmother.

best wishes
tecwyn
tecwyn.evans@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I was wrong! Just have transcripted the txt of Thomas Lee will, he left his son Edward Lee only 20 pounds and Corrin Lodge was mentioned there only as Edward Lee”s address
Natalya

Anonymous said...

Very interesting on the history of Fintra House.
We spent many holidays at Fintra House in late 50s 60s, i was very young but assume yhe man who owned it then was a Mr Goff, or could be spelt Gough. There was a huge fountain at the front of the hiuse, and it was prob about 75 mtrs up from the clocktower as its known now, then it was like a farm house rented as holiday house , the other side if clock tower took you into a yard and the end room was a sheep dip, the first section was the farm house and had a lovely garden space.
My mother died quite a while ago but had lots of photos of those times sadly dued in 90s after moving to england so do not know what happened to them. There was an extension built on to side with a bar and snooker table darts etc,
Many great stays there ,and the house was about where the houses where built in front of the trees

Jane Housham said...

Thanks very much for sharing your memories of Fintra House, Anonymous (19 Nov '23). It's lovely to hear all those details about the layout and to know you had happy holidays there (I hope they were happy -- I'm getting the sense that they were).