File:HamondBrothers OfWestAcre Norfolk Circa1890.jpg

Photograph of three surviving Hamond brothers, subsequent lords of the manor of West Acre, Norfolk, sons of Anthony Hamond (1805-1869) of West Acre. Norfolk Record Office, HMN 4/33, 737×2.

• Anthony Hamond (1834-1895) (left), eldest surviving brother;
• Admiral Richard Horace Hamond, 1843-1906 (right), second surviving brother;
• Thomas Astley Horace Hamond, 1845-1917 (centre), third surviving brother, still living when the east window portrait stained glass was erected in West Acre Church;
  

There were originally four brothers. The second-born brother, who did not survive into old age, was Philip Hamond (1838-1861), who died aged 22/3 serving in India as a Cornet in the 21st Light Dragoons. His image is shown in stained glass in the east window of the parish church of West Acre, together with images of his brothers Anthony Hamond, 1834-95, Admiral Richard Horace Hamond, 1843-1906 and Thomas Astley Horace Hamond, 1845-1917, presumed donor of the window. The east window was glazed by Burlison and Grylls in 1907.

• • Anthony Hamond (1834-1895) of West Acre, lord of the manor of West Acre and Swaffham, patron of four livings, (eldest son of Anthony Hamond (1805-1869) of West Acre) who married Mary Leigh Hare (d.1925) only daughter of Sir Thomas Hare, 2nd Baronet, of Stow Hall, Norfolk. He appears in the stained glass to be dressed as a Master of Foxhounds, and shows the arms: Azure, three doves argent between two chevronels or (Hamond of West Acre) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.450) impaling Gules, two bars and a chief indented or (Hare, Hare Baronets of Stow Hall, Norfolk, for his wife Mary Leigh Hare) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.456). Text from [1]: "The Norfolk Record Office (NRO) has recently purchased a series of diaries of Anthony Hammond (1834-1895) of Westacre High House. They were acquired at the Morningthorpe Manor House Sale as a result of an appeal made by the NRO and its charitable partner, the Norfolk Archives and Heritage Development Foundation (NORAH). Hamond owned a large landed estate and unsurprisingly was interested in such matters as horse breeding, hunting and estate management. Hamond’s extensive involvement with hunting in west Norfolk meant he was closely acquainted with the royal family. Queen Victoria purchased Sandringham Hall in 1862, as a home for her eldest son, the Prince of Wales and the future King Edward VII. Hamond was also interested in local politics. He was involved in the transition of responsibility from the Norfolk Quarter Sessions to Norfolk County Council as both a Justice of the Peace and a member of the first cohort of county councillors. Despite Hamond’s difficult to read handwriting, the diaries offer a wonderful insight into the life of the late Victorian landed gentry. The diary entries shown below currently feature in an exhibition at The Archive Centre in Norwich. They neatly summarise Hamond’s interests, which include local politics as evidenced by the entry for 3 February 1889 (Norfolk Record Office, MC 3243/21). In his diary, Hamond indicates that he was an ally of John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, who was a senior Liberal politician who had held many senior government positions, including Foreign Secretary. Wodehouse was also amongst the first cohort of county councillors. The minutes of the provisional county council, which first met on 7 February 1889 (Norfolk Record Office, C/C 22/1), contradict this somewhat. They record Hamond voting instead for Robert Thornhagh Gurdon, later Lord Cranworth (1829-1903) as first Chairman of the Council, namely. This may have had something to do with the fact that Gurdon was also the Chairman of Norfolk Quarter Sessions. Gurdon had sat as a Liberal MP before joining the Liberal Unionists in 1886 because of his objection to Irish Home Rule. The powers of the early Norfolk County Council were not very extensive. A Joint Committee of the County Council and Quarter Sessions, of which Hamond was a member, controlled the police and courthouses. Responsibility for the County Lunatic Asylum and 267 County bridges was transferred from Quarter Sessions to the County Council. The Council also had responsibility for the maintenance of 824 miles of main roads and control of the contagious diseases of animals". He died without issue and was succeeded by his younger brother Admiral Richard Horace Hamond (1843-1906);
  • Admiral Richard Horace Hamond (1843-1906) of West Acre (3rd son of Anthony Hamond (1805-1869) of West Acre), who died unmarried and was succeeded by his brother Thomas Astley Horace Hamond, 1845-1917;
  • Thomas Astley Horace Hamond, 1845-1917, lord of the manor of Swaffham.