It’s exciting to keep the Caithness/Patagonia connection, says Martina
Links between Caithness and Patagonia have been strengthened after a visit to the county by a direct descendant of one of the 19th-century pioneers who embarked on a new life in South America.
Martina Hamilton is a great-great-granddaughter of Wick-born John Hamilton, who became one of Argentina’s most successful sheep farmers after emigrating in the 1870s.
Today the Hamilton family continues to run a number of huge sheep farms in Patagonia, a region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile and is known for its unforgiving landscape.
John – or “Juan”, as he became known – was the catalyst for a number of other Caithness men, and women, making the journey from Scotland’s far north to the other side of the world.
Martina (32), from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, had travelled to Scotland before as a child but this was her first visit to Caithness. She was accompanied by her boyfriend Ignacio Sanchez (35).
They were guests of Ian Leith and his wife Doreen during their short stay in Wick.
Ian is the author of Caithness to Patagonia: Distant Lands and Close Relatives (Whittles Publishing) and he continues to explore the enduring connections between the two areas.
“It’s a chance to get to know Caithness and Wick and retrace the steps to get a feeling of what this place was like,” Martina said.
“It’s exciting to meet people and to keep the connection. It’s really interesting for us.
“We’ve got a lot more information than we used to have, and it’s good to see later generations bonding and getting to know the places.”
John was the son of Angus Hamilton, a Wick tailor and clothier. John was born in the town in 1858 and left originally for the Falkland Islands in 1878 before settling in Patagonia.
John began to then recruit shepherds from Caithness but, apart from a possible visit in 1922, he never returned to the county.
Ian has made three visits to Patagonia with his friend and fellow researcher Donald MacDonald and they plan to go back early next year.
“Having this visit to the town from John Hamilton’s great-great-granddaughter is, I believe, quite significant in terms of the whole Caithness to Patagonia story,” Ian said.
“Myself and Donald MacDonald have been to Patagonia three times now and have met Martina on two of these visits. Our next visit is being pencilled in for January 2026.
“My aim is also to write a biography of John Hamilton. He is one of Wick’s forgotten or unknown sons.”