Cultured Views

Hamilton Family History - Scotland to Co Donegal

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One major aspect of my new soon-to-come site will the focus on the establishment of the branch of the Hamilton ‘clan’ that arrived in Co Donegal Ireland from Scotland back in the 16th century - mid to late 16th century actually.

This particular branch of the family were not plantationists but landowners - the land being granted to the original John Hamilton via King James in appreciation of the family’s loyalty to the crown.  Original settlement was Murvagh.

The family established themselves at this place before relocating to another nearby location where the family seat still stands today. Unfortunately no trace at all remains of the original dwelling, and in fact it’s exact location is not known. But having visited the area I can see that the elements have obviously played a part in that.

I will be focusing on Ballintra Co Donegal (Donegal Town pictured above) from the years of 1690 and onwards. Some of the surnames also associated with this branch of the Hamiltons are: Stewart, Pakenham, Creighton and Blackwood.

Pictured above: Donegal Town, Ireland.

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Family history - Courbarron

When I get my new blog - Hamilton Family History - up and running I will be incorporating into it information regarding the surname ‘Courbarron’.

 This was the maiden-name of my Great Grandmother, Mildred, and her father was Augustus James Hamilton Courbarron, born St Helier Jersey Channel Islands in  June 1863. There is hardly any info at all on the origins of this name, or any info really about anyone researching this name on the net. Whenever I google the name now and then mostly what comes up is data I posted on messageboards a few years back. And no answers to them either!

From what I do know the name is spelt sometimes with two ‘r’s and my Great Great Grandfather’s brother, Stanhope, emigrated from Jersey to Canada in the late 1800’s. For some strange reason he changed the spelling of the name to ‘Coeur-Barron’ which actually alters the origins of the name. His descendents have stuck to this spelling, and fair enough, but I wonder why he did it at all.

The name ‘Courbarron/Courbaron’ originated from the Manche region of France, around Normandy. To date there are only 227 people with this surname living in France and they are all located around the Normandy regions of Cherbourg, some further south towards the border with Brittany. The name derives from ‘Court’-short/petit and ‘Barron’ - domain. For years I wondered about the origins so it was great to clarify that.

It is understandable how my Great -Great Grandfathers’ family came to be in the Channel Islands as they lie right off the Normandy coast. Back in the late 1700’s-early 1800’s people travelled to the Channel Islands to work the farms there.

I will devote a major part of the new site to the Courbarron history and invite anyone with any info to contact me and maybe join the project!

Pictured above: Augustus James Hamilton Courbarron and his wife Mary (Morrissey) circa 1895, Sydney Australia.

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New site to come!

Yep, I’ve just come into possession of the domain Hamiltonfamilyhistory.com so soon I’ll be working on the site to thoroughly document my Hamilton family ancestry - and it’s an impressive one with it’s descent and connections to many significant lines.

I started researching back in the 1980’s - pre internet - so I have reems of paperwork and photographs to transfer to the new site and it will take up quite a bit of time. The result will be a great source of information to anyone researching this particular line and I hope to hear from those people.

Included will be the surnames of: Pakenham, Wellington, Courbarron ( a rare name with a severe shortage of date available online ), Upton and Stewart’s of Killymoon (picture of Killymoon Castle, Co.Tyrone above).

I’m still in the early stages of planning an appropriate format but plan to start asap. And all enquiries will be most welcome!.

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