Hugh McCalmont

Hugh McCalmont was born in Dublin, the eldest son of James McCalmont (of Abbeylands, Belfast) and Emily Anne Martin.[1] He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.[2]

He was the nephew of author Violet Florence Martin and the composer Robert "Ballyhooly" Martin, who composed the Killaloe March.[2]

McCalmont was commissioned into the 6th Dragoon Guards in 1865.[3] He saw service in the Red River Rebellion in 1870, the Third Anglo-Ashanti War in 1873 and the Russo-Turkish War in 1877.[4] McCalmont also took part in the South African War in 1879, the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1879 and the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882 as well as the Nile Expedition in 1884.[4]

In 1884 he became aide-de-camp to General Wolseley.[5] He was elected as an Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Antrim in 1895 but resigned in 1899 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.[6] He was commanding the troops in the Cork district, when on 1 April 1902 he became General Officer Commanding 8th Division within Third Army Corps in Ireland.[7][8]

In 1907 he was given the colonelcy of the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, a position he held until his death in 1924.

McCalmont lived at Abbeylands, a two-storey Victorian house in Whiteabbey, near Belfast, until it was set on fire by Suffragettes in 1914[9] causing £20,000 of damage.[10][11] Unionist leader, Edward Carson, had declared against votes for women, meanwhile his Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) had been drilling troops at Abbeylands House. In protest the Suffragettes burnt the building to the ground on 27 March 1914, complaining that they were being imprisoned while the UVF were gun running and preparing for civil war.[12][13][14]

In 1885, he married the Hon. Rose Elizabeth Bingham, daughter of John Charles Robert Bingham, 4th Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook.[1] His son, Dermot McCalmont (1887–1968), inherited a fortune from his second cousin, Harry McCalmont, and was the owner of race horse The Tetrarch.[15]