Jane (Hamilton) Hope (1811 - 1901)

Born 5 Jul 1811 in Fintragh House, Killybegs Upper, County Donegal, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 31 Jan 1901 at age 89 in Nelson, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Tracy Hope [send private message]

Biography

Jane Hamilton was born in Fintragh House, Killybegs, seat of the Hamiltons in County Donegal. She was baptised on 19 July 1811. ^[1]

She had three sons to Edward Hope although there is no evidence they were married or even lived together.

In 1841, Jane was living on the Isle of Man in North Abbey Cottage with her two older sons, Edward (recorded as Edmond), 3 and Richard, 2. They reported to the census takers in Malew. Jane's husband Edward is not listed. Edward and Ann Lee are also recorded in the same entry. Jane's father having died when she was about six years old, her mother Ann married Edward Lee, a landowner in Killybegs. Ann died in about 1845 and Edward remarried Matilda Hutton. For whatever reason, Jane and her sons resided with Edward Lee for several years after her mother's death.

In the 1851 census, Jane and her sons Edward, Richard Johnson and Orry were living with her stepfather and his new wife in Stockland, Devon (at Boardhays). Edward is not living with them and Jane is recorded as a widow.

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Edward Lee Head Male 59 Barnstaple, Devonshire

Matilda Lee Wife Female 46 Exmouth, Devonshire

Jane Hope Step Daughter Female 38 Ireland

Edward Hope Male 13 Ireland

Richard Johnson Hope Male 12 Ireland

Orry Hamilton Hope Male 7 Isle Of Man

Sarah Rowe Servant Female 22 Porlock, Somerset

Rebecca Rowe Servant Female 17 Porlock, Somerset^[2]

In 1852, Jane, her sons Richard Johnson Hope, Orry Hope, and Edward Hamilton Hope emigrated to Nelson, New Zealand in the chief cabin aboard the Minerva, arriving in Lyttelton in February 1853.^[3]

Edward and Johnson never returned to Britain but, in 1857, Jane and Orry sailed back to England on the OLIVER LANG on business. The trip was rough and most of the passengers, including Jane, suffered from seasickness. Jane, writing to Edward in Nelson, claimed she would never travel second class again. While in England, Jane longed to return to New Zealand and vowed that she would never leave again. Her business, which involved recovering money due to her from Mr Lee, her step-father, was never resolved. In 1859 they returned to Nelson, travelling steerage on the MIDLOTHIAN.^[4]

Jane spent much of her later life in genteel poverty, boarding with a couple, selling the remnants of her jewellery and silver, and working as the manager of the Trafalgar Hotel in Nelson. At age 75 she moved alternately between Edward and Orry's homes until she died in 1901 in Cosy Dell.

Jane died in 1901 and is buried in Cosy Dell. She has a memorial headstone at St. Barnabas Cemetery, Nelson.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Donegal County register of births, Upper Killybegs. http://donegalgenealogy.com/hamiltonbthku.htm
2. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGNR-Q2P : 9 November 2017), Edward Lee, Stockland, Devon, England; citing Stockland, Devon, England, p. 26, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
3. ↑ SHIPPING NEWS. Lyttelton Times, Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 109, 5 February 1853, p. 6. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT18530205.2.8, accessed 24 May 2019.
4. ↑ Whelan, Helen. Jane Hope. Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 2, Issue 3, 1989. p. 34. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-NHSJ05_03-t1-body1-d9.html, accessed 23 May 2019.
5. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 14 March 2019), memorial page for Jane Hamilton Hope (6 Jul 1811–31 Jan 1901), Find A Grave Memorial no. 107521636, citing St Barnabas Cemetery, Nelson, Nelson City, Nelson, New Zealand ; Maintained by MystikNZ (contributor 48009964) .

• Unsourced family tree handed down to Tracy (Frisken) Hope.