Why did your Ancestors settle in Hamilton

Old Hamilton

Old Parish Records

OPR's began in Hamilton in 1645. Hamilton is Parish no 647 in the County of Lanark.


The Name

The town of Hamilton was originally known as Cadzow but was re-named in honor of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton in 1455


The Early Years

The Hamilton family constructed many landmark buildings in the area including the Hamilton Mausoleum in Strathclyde Park, which has the longest echo of any building in the world. Hamilton Barracks was formerly the Depot of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and the home of the 1st Battalion of the Regiment. The Regimental Museum is part of the Low Parks Museum.

Lord Hamilton founded a college in the town in 1451, a parish school appeared in 1570 and one of Scotland's first post offices was established in Hamilton in 1642.


The 1700 and 1800s

By the end of the 1700s Hamilton was on a crossroads of turnpike roads serving Glasgow, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Kilmarnock. The railways arrived in the mid 1800s, and iron smelting and coal mining began to have an impact on the area around the town.



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