The Hamilton family

The Hamilton family connection with Shetland dates from 1833 when the Rev Zachary Macaulay Hamilton became parish minister in the island of Bressay. Rev Hamilton was the son of an Orkney minister and first cousin to Lord Macaulay, the historian.
Rev Hamilton lived in Bressay until his death in 1876. He was married twice, firstly to Anne Irvine Cruikshank of Stromness in Orkney, by whom he had 6 children; secondly to Elizabeth Cameron Mouat, daughter to Captain and Mrs Cameron Mouat of Garth. Elizabeth had been brought up mostly at Belmont, her parents’ home.
Of the next generation of Hamiltons, 2 died in infancy; Anne (born 1835) married an Edinburgh banker, Charles Hay; Margaret (born 1838) and Penelope (born 1839) both married into the family of Edmondstone of Buness in Unst.
Their brother Robert George Cruikshank Hamilton, born 1836, was a graduate of Aberdeen University, and went on to have a distinguished career in public service, including Under Secretary for Ireland, Governor of Tasmania, and Chairman of the Board of Customs. He was knighted in 1884 and died in London in 1895.

Of the four children born to Rev Hamilton and his second wife Elizabeth, one died young.
Wilhemina (“Minnie”) born 1849, married a London doctor. She had two brothers – Willie (William Cameron Hamilton, born 1847), who had a troubled career in Shetland where he farmed rather unsuccessfully. He finally emigrated to Canada in 1888.
The youngest of the family was Zachary Macaulay Hamilton, born 1855. Like his brother Willie he earned his living in Shetland, but much more successfully. Zachary, able and hard working, had a open and likeable personality. He became factor on the estate of Garth & Annsbrae for first his uncle and then his cousin; he farmed on the island of Whalsay and managed other farms on behalf of the Garth estate. Later he moved to Unst, finally settling at Belmont. His voluminous correspondence gives a vivid and detailed description of contemporary Shetland and illustrates a warm-hearted and generous man dealing fairly with the people over whom he had authority.

Zachary’s first marriage, to his first cousin Jane McCulloch, was childless; his second, in 1901, to Matilda Adie of Voe, resulted in the birth of three children, the youngest of whom, William Robert Thomas Hamilton, (a future Convenor of Zetland County Council), was a baby of only three weeks when Zachary contracted pneumonia after attending a funeral in very bad weather and died (Dec 1905).
Zachary’s obituary in the Shetland Times attests to his standing locally and the affection in which he was held.

It is pleasant to record that new generations of the Hamilton family have visited Belmont recently, renewing their family ties with the house and with the island of Unst.