Alexander Sebastian Leith-Hay and Christina G. A. Hamilton
Archive record published 30 December 2015
1818–1900
Colonel Alexander Sebastian Leith-Hay
Alexander Sebastian Leith-Hay of Rannes and Leith Hall was born in Granada in the West Indies in 1818 and died at Leith Hall in 1900. He succeeded to the family estates in 1862. In 1860 he married Christina Grace Agnes Hamilton, daughter of William Charles Hamilton of Craighlaw, Wigtownshire.
He served with distinction in the 93rd Highlanders during the Canadian Rebellion of 1838 and remained in Canada until 1848. That year he purchased a captaincy; he later became Major, and in 1855 Lieutenant-Colonel of the 93rd without purchase. In 1858 he received the brevet rank of Colonel under the Royal Warrant of 6 October 1854.
He served in the Crimean War at Balaclava in 1854 and during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. His honours included Commander of the Order of the Bath, Knight of the Legion of Honour and the Order of the Medjidie. He retired from the Army on 21 December 1860.
Aged Australian’s Varied Career
The Veteran of the Indian Mutiny
A contemporary account recorded the death at Leith Hall of a remarkable sulphur-crested Australian cockatoo. During the Indian Mutiny, when the 93rd Highlanders under Colonel Leith-Hay attacked and captured a rebel stronghold, a soldier found the bird speaking in Hindustani. The Colonel purchased it and provided it with a cage and a special bearer.
The cockatoo was present under fire in every engagement in which the 93rd took part during the campaign. Its narrowest escape came when a round shot killed its bearer, yet the bird passed through the campaign unharmed.
Brought home by its owner after the Mutiny, the bird spent nearly half a century at Leith Hall. Remembered for its gentle and affectionate disposition, it became a favourite of everyone at the house. It had already been fully grown when captured, so neither its true age nor the story of its journey from Australia to India was ever known.
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