Aims:
The aims of this project were to investigate all aspects of the Hamwood estate at
Dunboyne Co. Meath. As the estate is a small one I decided to do a general history of the
house and the life in it, focusing particularly on the things for which it is most famous,
namely the garden and the two painters, Eva and Letitia.
Background
The house at Hamwood was built in 1779 by Charles Hamilton ,agent for the Duke of
Leinster, at a cost of £2500. It was a simple square three-storey house to which his son
later added wings and pavilions.
Still standing it is inhabited by the same family, which makes one of the
few houses of it's kind in the country. All the timber was imported from Memel in Russia
and it was one of the first houses in Ireland to be roofed with dry slating. Mr Hamilton
"prided himself on the thickness of thealls, which are all lined with brick or
studded" The Duke of Leinster contributed some of the thinnings of his plantation to
make a shrubbery and the wood at the end of it, as well as a pair of granite steps, which
remain in situ in front of the pavilions.
The Hamilton family originally came from Scotland and settled at first in Tyrella Co. Down in the early 1700's. Charles Hamilton later moved to Mount Venus in Dublin after many years as a wine merchant. He subsequently acted as a land agent for the Duke, a position held by successive generations until quite recently. It is worth noting that all of his direct heirs were called Charles and will be distinguished only by their middle names in this project.
Charles Hamilton, the son of the original Charles was born in 1772. Educated in Blackrock and Carrickmacross he was later to be called to the bar at the bar in 1792 and practiced for a few years before taking over his fathers job. He laid the foundations of Hamwood garden and in 1801 he married a miss Caroline Tighe of Rossanagh Co. Wicklow. Together they had three children Frederick John, William Tighe and Charles William. Unfortunately, few sources exist on him with the exception of a letter from Charlotte Hamilton to his grandson Charles William. In it she says that he " maintained an excellent character wherever he went : he was so much attached to his parents, who idolised him that he could not have done anything to displease them"
Charles William his son was born on 1 April 1802. He married a Letitia Charlotte and had also three children Arthur, Edward Chetwood and Charles Robert. He was an exceptional man with a great interest in agriculture. He was involved deeply in the Royal Dublin Society and he corresponded in the 1840’s with the Repeal M.P., and subsequent Young Ireland Revolutionary, William Smith O’Brien, about the affairs of the Royal Dublin Society. He was deeply concerned that the state of agriculture in ...