Hamilton Douglas Halyburton

Hamilton Douglas Halyburton (10 October 1763 – 31 December 1783) was a British Lieutenant who died at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

The Honourable

Hamilton Douglas Halyburton
Halyburton Memorial at Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Born(1763-10-10)October 10, 1763
DiedDecember 31, 1783(1783-12-31) (aged 20)
Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Burial placeCypress Hills National Cemetery
ParentSholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton

Biography

He was born on 10 October 1763 to Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton.[1][2] He died on 31 December 1783 when he was in command of the barge of HMS Assistance. He was using it to chase deserters off of Sandy Hook. He and his crew were caught in a winter storm and they all died, all but one of the bodies washed ashore the next day.[2] They were described as "12 gentlemen and one common sailor".

Halyburton Memorial
Halyburton Memorial plaque

Katherine Hamilton, the Countess Dowager of Morton erected a monument, but it was destroyed by the French.[3] The grave was rediscovered in 1908 during expansion of a road.[1]

In 1937, a new Halyburton Memorial was constructed.[4] It is a contributing property of the Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1980.[5][6]

References
  1. "Admiralty Acknowledges Kindness in Burying Bodies of Officers Frozen in 1783". New York Times. 6 September 1908. Retrieved 23 January 2009. Fourteen from the Assistance Searching for Deserters Died. French Vandals Destroyed Their Monument. The Admiralty has issued a notice recalling a lamentable and unfortunate occurrence which took place in December, 1783, just after the declaration of peace with the United States of America. The circumstance is thus describe in Brenton's "Naval History," (Vol. I., Page 261, 1837,) although the date is incorrectly given, probably a misprint. ... son of Sholto Charles, Earl of Morton ...
  2. Stanley Weintraub (2003). General Washington's Christmas Farewell. ISBN 0743246543. The next morning, the bodies of all but one of them, including Lieutenant Hamilton Douglas Haliburton, brother of the Earl of Morton, washed up on a beach ...
  3. Alcedo, Antonio de (1814). The Geographical and Historical Dictionary of America and the West Indies. During the American war, the Countess Dowager of Morton erected, on the w. side of Sandy Hook, a fine monument of marble to the memory of her son, Lieutenant Halliburton, of the royal navy, who, together with a boat's crew, perished there in a snow storm. A few years ago this work of parental affection was beat down and destroyed, by the crew of a French armed ship, in a manner that reflects no honour upon their professional or manly feelings.
  4. "Revolutionary War Sites in Sandy Hook, New Jersey". Revolutionary War New Jersey.
  5. "National Register Information System – (#80002505)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2 November 2013.
  6. Butowsky, Harry (June 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District". National Park Service. With accompanying 60 photos
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