Rachel Molly Hamilton aka Big Rachel (1829 - 1899) was an Irish-born woman who was a special constable during the Partick Riots in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1875.

Early life

Hamilton was born in Ireland, later living in

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to t ...

, Glasgow in Scotland with her husband. She was tall and weighed around , and became known as 'Big Rachel'. She held a variety of jobs considered unusual for women at the time, including working as a labourer in Tod and Macgregor's shipyard, as a forewoman

navvy Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...

in the

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...

Jordanhill Jordanhill ( sco, Jordanhull, gd, Cnoc Iòrdain)
is an ...

, and as a farm labourer.

The Partick riots

The Partick riots started on 6 August 1875, the centenary of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

's birth, and lasted for three days. The

Irish immigrants The Irish diaspora ( ga, Diaspóra na nGael) refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner and Meeder, The ...

decided to celebrate O'Connell's birth with a march and other Glaswegians rose up in protest. Partick's population expanded by over 50% during the 1870s, from 17,700 to 27,400. The centre of what was said to be a major civil disturbance was at

Partick Cross Partick Cross is a major road junction in Partick, in the west end of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The junction is the meeting point of Dumbarton Road, Byres Road, Partick Bridge Street and Coopers Well Street. History Riots took place on th ...

. Partick was responsible for its own policing as a

police burgh A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a "police system" for governing the town. They existed from 1833 to 1975. The 1833 act The first police burghs were created under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 (3 & 4 Wm IV c.46). This ...

. Hamilton was one of around 30 locals sworn in as special constables, who were responsible for driving the rioters back. Her story is now included as part of a walking tour run by

Glasgow Women's Library Glasgow Women's Library is a public library, registered company and charity based in the Bridgeton area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the only accredited museum dedicated to women's history and provides information relevant to women's culture a ...

that highlights notable local women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Rachel 1829 births 1899 deaths 19th-century Scottish people 19th-century Scottish women 19th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish women People from Partick