David Hamilton

DAVID HAMILTON

The Question of Ancestry

According to the late Samuel King Hamilton: "David Hamilton, the progenitor of the Hamiltons of Waterborough, was the son of Andrew Hamilton of Westburn a cadet of the Hamiltons of Torrance, and was born between 1620 and 1630, in or a short distance from the town of Hamilton, which is eleven miles southeast of Glasgow in Scotland." The Hamiltons of Waterborough: 53 It would appear that Samuel King Hamilton's assertion has been accepted without question by a number of websites, including the Phillips Family Website Phillips Family website: Ancestry of David Hambleton, notwithstanding the fact that he did not cite even one piece of verifiable evidence of relationship. It seems too that he was unaware of the fact that Andrew Hamilton of Westburn made his last will and testament on 1 March 1628, and that he died shortly thereafter. In his last will and testament he made legal and financial provision for only one minor child, a daughter named Marie Hamilton and, in view of this fact, it seems extremely unlikely that Andrew Hamilton of Westburn would have had another minor child, a son named David, who still alive in March 1628. [NRS: CC9/7/22]

Concerning the general reliability of the Phillips Family website, it should be noticed that it confuses Robert Hamilton of Torrance with Robert Hamilton, Seigneur d’Aubigny, and misidentifies the laird of Torrance's wife as a daughter of "Goodman of Glaister" rather than as a daughter of "the goodman of Glaister". In addition to this, James Hamilton of Torrance, the father of Robert Hamilton of Torrance is confused with James, Lord Hamilton. The Phillips family website is well presented but in so far as the ancestry of David Hamilton is concerned it is seriously misleading. Phillips Family website: Ancestry of David Hambleton

The Question of Identity

According to Scottish Prisoners of War, David Hamilton, here treated, was born in Scotland between 1620 and 1630 and was killed by Indians on 28 Sep 1691. Scottish Prisoners of War: John & Sara Passenger List

Genealogy

1. The Hamiltons of Waterborough (York County, Maine) Their Ancestors and Descendants. By Samuel King Hamilton (Boston, Murray and Emery Company, 1912) 407 pp. including index
2. Phillips Family Website: Ancestry of David Hambleton
3. Scottish Prisoners of War
4. Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the House of Hamilton etc. by John Anderson, pp. 386-88 for Hamilton of Torrance
5. Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the House of Hamilton etc. by John Anderson, pp. 392-3 for Hamilton of Westburn
6. Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the House of Hamilton etc. by John Anderson, pp. 442-44 for Hamilton of Westburn
7. The Heraldry of the Hamiltons etc. by G. Harvey Johnston, pp. 88 et seq. for Hamilton of Torrance

Research Notes

Near this place lived DAVID HAMILTON OF WESTBURN born in the parish of Cambuslang, Scotland, in October, 1620; captured by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester, England. September 3, 1651 brought to America as a prisoner in chains on the "John and Sarah" in the same year; settled near here and Married ANNAH JAXSON of Lanark, Scotland; killed by Indians on September 28, 1691.

David is one of the Passengers of the ship “John and Sara”: Scots Prisoners of War, 1651

• Battle of Worcester From Wikipedia
• Scottish Prisoners of War Society Organization Website
• Scottish Prisoners of War Society a Facebook group.
• Immigration: Arrives on John And Sarah as Scottish prisioner - Between Nov 8 1651 and Apr 30 1652 - Maine, United States
  • Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Jun 15 2021, 23:28:32 UTC

The Battles of Dunbar (1650) and Worcester (1651) FamilytTreeDNA Project

In 1650-1651 the Third Civil War of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms was fought largely on Scottish soil when Cromwell's New Model Army invaded Scotland. The Scottish Covenanters' army was heavily defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar (3rd Sept 1650), and some 5,000 prisoners were marched south of the border by the NMA to Durham. During the infamous death march some escaped, some were shot as a warning to the rest, some were set to work around Newcastle and many died of famine fever at Morpeth after eating cabbage raw from the fields. Just 3,000 survived to be ordered into their temporary prison of Durham Cathedral, where the dying from infection and fever continued. The order was given to transport 900 of the healthiest prisoners to the American colonies in New England and Virginia to be sold into indentured labour.

It is not clear how many of these were in the end transported, but on 7th November 1650, about 150 Scottish prisoners of Dunbar were transported aboard the Unity. After landing in Charlestown, New England, the ones who survived the voyage were sold for £20-£30 each as indentured servants, 60 of them to the Saugus Ironworks in Massachusetts. Up to 300 more may have been sent to Virginia too, although shipping records have not survived.

A year to the day from Dunbar, the Royalist army under Charles II went down to its final defeat at Worcester, and again several thousand Scottish soldiers supporting Charles found themselves prisoners of war in England. Again, many were ordered for transportation – and on 8th November 1651, the John and Sarah took sail with around 300 Scottish prisoners on board. 272 of them survived to reach Charlestown, where they suffered the fate of the Unity prisoners a year earlier. The names of these 272 prisoners have survived – in time, many of those who survived their terms of indentured labour would settle in the colonies, and have living descendants today.

• Scottish Prisoners
  

 Transported Scottish Prisoners of the Civil Wars (1650s)

FamilytTreeDNA Project.
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/scottish-po-ws/about/background

his Project aims to discover descendants of the Scots captured in the battles of Dunbar and Worcester (1650-51) by Oliver Cromwell's army, and transported to the Americas.

Who may join the project?

This project will be of interest to people who have DNA tested and who are, or believe you may be:

descended from Scottish prisoners transported to New England on board the Unity (1650)
descended from Scottish prisoners transported to New England on board the John and Sarah (1651)
descended from Scottish prisoners who may have been transported on other ships or to other colonies (1640s-50s)
descendants from other Scottish exiles from the Commonwealth or Restoration (1650s-60s) eg. Covenanters
Genetic matches of descendants of the above are also welcome to join the project, especially those still living in Scotland or whose ancestors emigrated from there in more recent times - one of the goals of the project is to try to pinpoint possible places of origin for the transported prisoners in Scotland.

• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jun 16 2021, 6:21:19 UTC
• Cambuslang, Scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambuslang
• Oliver Cromwell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell
• John and Sarah https://spows.org/battle_of_war_pows_in_america
• Battle of Worcester https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Worcester
• Scottish Prisoners of War Society https://spows.org Organization Website
• Scottish Prisoners of War Society https://www.facebook.com/groups/SPOWS a Facebook group
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-1321 cites

1. ↑ Hamilton, Samuel King. The Hamiltons of Waterborough (York County, Maine) their ancestors and descendants. Priv. print. [Press of Murray and Emery company], 1912. Page 61. Page 72. GoogleBooks
2. ↑ Libby, Charles Thornton, Walter Goodwin Davis and Sybil Noyes. Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1976; originally published in five parts, Portland, 1928-1939. Pages 303, 370.
3. ↑ Folsom, George. History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other early settlements, and of the proprietary governments, in Maine, including the provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia. Saco, Maine, Printed by A. C. Putnam, 1830. Page 187.
4. Eaton, Arthur Wentworth Hamilton. "Berwick, Maine, and Nova Scotia Hamiltons." New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Oct. 1890. Pages 361-362.

Family

When David Hamilton died in 1691 he apparently did not leave a will which left the disposition of his property in the hands of the “selectmen of Dover.” The estate was settled in 1697. There is no mention in these same records of the widow Annah Hamilton therefore it is likely that she died before that. The date of birth of her youngest child has been published in various sources as 1679 and 1682, so Annah died at some point roughly between 1679 and 1697. "Before 1698" is a safe date to use.

Biographical Summary

Hamilton, Samuel King. The Hamiltons of Waterborough (York County, Maine) their ancestors and descendants. Priv. print. [Press of Murray and Emery company], 1912. Page 61. Page 72. GoogleBooks

These records show conclusively that David and Gabriel Hamilton were the sons of David Hamilton and that David was the eldest son. In the early New Hampshire records at the New Hampshire Historical Society at Concord, N. H., may be found the record of the birth of Solomon Hamblton, son of David Hamblton, born 10th August, 1666, also Jonathan, son of David Hamblton, born 20th December, 1672. The above constitutes all the record evidence that has been found of the births of the children of David Hamilton; but the contemporary evidence of the birth of at least three more sons, Abel or Abell, Bial or Abial, and Jonas, is conclusive.
From all the evidence obtainable, it would appear that the children of David' and Annah (Jaxson) (Jackson) Hamilton were at least seven in number, all sons. There is no evidence of any daughters. The record shows that Solomon was born August 10th, 1666, and Jonathan, December 20th, 1672. The other dates are conjectural; but the order of their birth and approximate dates as given seem to be in accordance with well-known facts in the history of the family.
Jonas Hamilton removed to New London, Ct., and a short sketch of him and his descendants may be found in the Wickwire Genealogy.