Hone family

The Hone family is an Anglo-Irish family associated principally with Ireland and, through later branches, the United Kingdom. Its recorded history reaches back to Nathaniel Hone, a shoemaker living in Marlborough in 1632, although accounts differ over the family's earlier ethnic and geographical origins. Some genealogical traditions describe the Hones as Welsh and connect the surname with Owen, while other accounts suggest Dutch extraction without identifying a confirmed Netherlands link. The family's Irish history is conventionally traced to Samuel Hone, who went to Ireland with the Parliamentary army during Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Ireland in 1649. In 1656 he received a land grant near Carlow, later sold that property, and established himself as a merchant at Wood Quay in Dublin. His grandsons Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Joseph Hone and Brindley Hone became the principal progenitors of the family's better-known branches. Originally merchants and tradespeople, the Hones entered the Anglo-Irish gentry during the early nineteenth century through commercial success, landholding, public office and extensive marriage connections. The family produced a notable line of artists. Nathaniel Hone the Elder became a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768. His sons Horace Hone and John Camillus Hone pursued careers in portraiture and miniature painting; Horace became an associate of the Royal Academy and miniature painter to the Prince of Wales, while John Camillus later worked in Dublin as an engraver of dies. Later artistic descendants included the landscape painter Nathaniel Hone the Younger and the stained-glass artist Evie Hone. The family also intersected with Irish literary and cultural history through Joseph Maunsell Hone, a historian and biographer of W. B. Yeats, novelist Joseph Hone, poet Leland Bardwell and Camillus Hone-Travers, the adopted son of author P. L. Travers. Other branches were prominent in finance and commerce. Nathaniel Hone, a descendant of Joseph Hone, became Governor of the Bank of Ireland in 1822. Joseph Hone, a later member of the family, also served as Governor of the Bank of Ireland and founded the maltsters H. Minch & Son Ltd. Several relatives served as directors of the Bank of Ireland, while William Hone became President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce at a young age. Members of the family were also involved in the Grand Canal Company, commercial brokerage, landownership and Dublin civic administration. Public service was another recurring theme. Nathaniel Hone of the Brindley branch served as High Sheriff of Dublin in 1798 and Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1810 to 1811. Other descendants became clergy, civil servants, judges, bishops and colonial administrators. The wider family network included Sir Evelyn Hone, the last Governor of Northern Rhodesia, and connections by marriage to the Mahaffy, Molesworth, Blunden, Bellingham, Hart, Russell and Bruce-Lockhart families. The family is not a modern consumer brand or a single incorporated enterprise. It is better understood as a genealogical and historical family grouping, with influence expressed through the individual careers and marriages of its members rather than through a unified commercial identity. The available reference material concentrates on ancestry and notable descendants; it does not establish a current family headquarters, ownership structure, website, operating company or continuing collective institution.

The earliest documented figure associated with the family is Nathaniel Hone, a shoemaker living in Marlborough in 1632. The family's deeper origin remains unsettled. Burke's Irish Family Records described the Hones as Welsh and treated Hone as a variant of Owen, while other traditions have suggested Dutch ancestry without finding a demonstrated connection to the Netherlands. Samuel Hone, Nathaniel's second son, travelled to Ireland with the Parliamentary army during the Cromwellian conquest in 1649. A 1656 grant gave him land near Carlow, but he later sold it and became a merchant at Wood Quay in Dublin. From this commercial foundation, the family expanded into the Anglo-Irish gentry. Three of Samuel's grandsons—Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Joseph Hone and Brindley Hone—are generally treated as the principal ancestors of the major later branches. Nathaniel Hone the Elder was born in 1718 and became the family's first major artist. He was among the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. His sons continued the artistic line: Horace Hone became a society portrait-miniature painter, was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1779 and was appointed miniature painter to the Prince of Wales in 1795. John Camillus Hone exhibited at the Royal Academy, travelled to the East Indies to develop his practice and returned to Dublin, where he became Engraver of Dies under the Lord-Lieutenant. Joseph Hone, born in 1720, was a Dublin clothier. His descendants entered finance, public administration, commerce and landholding. His son Nathaniel, initially a clothier, pursued a financial career and became Governor of the Bank of Ireland in 1822. Other descendants included directors of the bank, justices of the peace, a High Sheriff of County Dublin and landowners in counties including Dublin and Tipperary. Joseph's descendants also produced prominent cricketers and maintained marriage links with other established Irish families. Brindley Hone, born in 1734, was a Dublin merchant at Usher's Quay. His descendants included Nathaniel Hone, High Sheriff of Dublin in 1798 and Lord Mayor from 1810 to 1811; Brindley Hone, chairman of the Grand Canal Company and a Bank of Ireland director; and the landscape painter Nathaniel Hone the Younger. The branch also developed extensive connections to Anglican clergy, public officials and aristocratic families. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw the family spread across professional and cultural life. Members served as clergy, bishops, civil servants, merchants, bankers and sportsmen. Joseph Hone, born in 1850, became Governor of the Bank of Ireland and founded H. Minch & Son Ltd, a malt-manufacturing business. Artistic descendants included Evie Hone, known for stained glass, while literary descendants and relatives included Joseph Maunsell Hone, Joseph Hone and Leland Bardwell. Through marriage and descent, the family became connected with figures and families including Sir John Pentland Mahaffy, Sir Robert Molesworth, the Blundens, Bellinghams, Harts, Russells and Bruce-Lockharts. The reference material does not identify a single present-day organization representing the Hone family. Its historical significance therefore rests on a distributed network of individuals and branches rather than on a unified enterprise.

• 1822

  Bank of Ireland governorship

  [1]Hone familyen.wikipedia.org

  Nathaniel Hone became Governor of the Bank of Ireland.

• 1810

  Civic office in Dublin

  [1]Hone familyen.wikipedia.org

  Nathaniel Hone served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1810 to 1811.

• 1795

  Royal appointment for Horace Hone

  [1]Hone familyen.wikipedia.org

  Horace Hone was appointed miniature painter to the Prince of Wales.

• 1768

  Royal Academy foundation

  [1]Hone familyen.wikipedia.org

  Nathaniel Hone the Elder became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy.

• 1656

  Land grant near Carlow

  [1]Hone familyen.wikipedia.org

  Samuel Hone received land near Carlow, later selling it before establishing himself as a Dublin merchant.

• 1649

  Samuel Hone arrives in Ireland

  [1]Hone familyen.wikipedia.org

  Samuel Hone is said to have travelled to Ireland with the Parliamentary army during the Cromwellian conquest.

• 1632

  Earliest cited ancestor

  [1]Hone familyen.wikipedia.org

  Nathaniel Hone is recorded as living in Marlborough and working as a shoemaker, forming the earliest documented point in the family's genealogy.

A historical Anglo-Irish family identity rather than a commercial brand, associated with art, banking, commerce, civic office, religion, sport and literature.

1. 1Hone familyen.wikipedia.org