Surprised by history of her marital home

Having found their dream home on a hillside in the rural north west, the couple set about a two-year improvement plan before moving into their marital home - completely unaware that one of it’s original owners had been a big shot in the United States.

Many will know the farm as ‘Arcame House’ but, like Adelaide, who has long retired from farming, they will be amazed to learn that the house was formerly the home of Andrew Woods Smyth, the eminent US surgeon who is buried in the City Cemetery.

A native of Castlederg, Dr Smyth was head surgeon in the Charity Hospital in New Orleans between 1858 and 1876, and also served as Governor of the US Mint in New Orleans between 1881 and 1885, and again between 1888 and 1893.

He married into the Bouligny family and the couple had a daughter, Arthemise, who married Rev David Hay, and all of them share the family plot.

Amazed by the house’s history, Mrs Hall would love to find out more about the former inhabitants and their local links.

“I see Andrew Wood Smyth was a native of Castlederg. I’d love to know where he was educated and where he studied medicine, if anyone could tell me,” she said.

Reflecting on her own connection with Ardcame House, Mrs Hall continued: “We bought this house in 1968, but it was overgrown and it was two years before we could move in in 1970. We had to do a lot of fixing and renovating here, because there had been nobody living here.” she said.

She went on to explain how they had renovated the building to include the spacious kitchen in which we chatted over a cup of tea, which she followed with a short tour to explain the changes to the house, which included a bathroom and guest room upstairs.

Downstairs the old parlour is now a cloakroom, but the old pantry is still there, and the dining room and large front room are still very much in the style of the original house, with the old fittings and finishings still visible.

The wooden windows have been replaced with modern uPVC, but still reflect the style of the old sash windows, and in one corner of the good front room Mrs Hall points out a window, where in the past the name Arthemise had been scratched into the glass. Sadly that glass was replaced, but she recalled an occasion when descendents of Artemise Hay called and had their pictures taken when the old windows were still intact.

Asked how she felt about living in a house with such an amazing history, Mrs Hall said: “It surprised me. It is nice to know that we may have done something to preserve the house and I love living here, but I’d love to know more about the surgeon and his family if anyone can help.”