Farewell to the Hadzors

Downpatrick Prison on Downpatrick Hill. Members of both the
Potter and West families had addresses on the Hill. The blue plaque to the left
marks the spot where Thomas Russell was hanged.

In a way, the Hadzor family represent the bridge between Hetty Jane Owen and her descendants back to the Normans, or Norsemen, who themselves were descendants of the Vikings and other Scandinavian raiders who settled in North France. 

Making their way through England after the Norman conquest, a branch of these Hadzors settled in Ireland as members of the new ruling class. Almost certainly originally speaking Norman French, over time they began to evolve a distinct Irish identity, which eventually led to the demise of and disappearance of many of the family as they came into conflict with the English establishment. 

Those that remained quietly adopted the Protestant faith, joined The Church of Ireland, and sought to maintain a high standard of life through education, career service, and marriage into well-off families, coming into close contact in the process with both later English Protestant and Scottish Presbyterian families.

Out of these connections, a portfolio of lands in County Down was created and passed down the family line, not to be finally dispensed with until 1881. These lands were the product of a highly successful smuggling enterprise conducted by the son in law of Dr. Seneca Hadzor, John Potter. 

John, in turn, left lands in his portfolio to his children, including Elizabeth Carson. When Elizabeth died in Bristol in 1833, she then bequeathed at least some of her lands to her first cousin, Maria West.

Maria West was the daughter of Elizabeth Hadzor (the daughter of Seneca Hadzor and Ruth Bankes), and her husband, Godfrey West.
She was the x2 great-grandmother of Hetty Jane Owen. 

As the Hadzor name now fades from the line, it is to the West family that this tale will now turn.