Another January catch-up today!

27^th JANUARY - WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM BONTINE HAMILTON

The gentleman with the very grand sounding name is my maternal G-G-Grandfather who was born on this day in 1832. William was the youngest child of Alexander HAMILTON & Ann WILSON, both tambour weavers of Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire, Scotland. I have often wondered why William was given such an unusual name as I can’t find Bontine or Cunninghame in either Alexander or Ann’s family tree. The only speculation is that at the time of Williams birth there was a prominent family in Kilmalcolm, the head of which was Robert Bontine Cunninghame GRAHAM whose son, William Cunningham Bontine, was born only a few years before my William. Perhaps my HAMILTON’s were repaying a kindness by naming their son after this family. It may also have been political as the earlier Robert Bontine Cunninghame GRAHAM was a radical Member of Parliament from 1794-1797 who attempted to introduce a Bill of Rights which presaged the Reform Bill of 1832 – the year my William was born. We may never know!

More will be told about William in July when I look at his marriage to Janet Cochrane SMITH but for now Happy Birthday G-G-Grandad!