Generous Edinburgh woman leaves £40k to former cleaner and £60k to SNP in will

An Edinburgh woman has left £40,000 to her former cleaner in her will - along with £60,000 to the Scottish National Party.

Sarah Hamilton left part of her estate to the SNP, as well as to her former cleaner and many other worthwhile charities. Pic: Daniel Jedzuma-Shutterstock

Sarah Hamilton included the cash gift to the SNP in a series of legacies to charities and family from her £1.7m estate.

Miss Hamilton, of Edinburgh, passed away aged 71 after a long battle with illness in July last year.

Known as Suzy, she was the only daughter of a Lieutenant Commander John Hamilton.

The family had lived in Ayrshire before Lt Com Hamilton donated the family home, Rozelle House, to the Royal Burgh of Ayr to be used for cultural and recreational activities in 1968.

The Hamilton family ancestors traded in sugar and tobacco in the West Indies where they had three estates.

Rozelle was named after one in Jamaica and is now home to the Ayrshire Yeomanry museum.

Miss Hamilton’s published will has revealed she left an estate totalling £1,669,485 at the time of her death.

She instructed the SNP be given cash and also ordered £150,000 be passed to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

She said the money should be used to help treat cancer patients with one third being set aside for the hospital’s breast unit.

Miss Hamilton also gifted £50,000 each to the Samaritans and World Vision UK and set aside a further £30,000 for the Air Force Benevolent Fund.

Miss Hamilton’s generosity also saw her give away a further £40,000 to her former cleaner and gave £70,000 to friends.

She ordered the remainder of her estate be shared among her nephews and nieces.

Miss Hamilton owned a £325,000 flat in Edinburgh and a vast stocks shares portfolio that included £75,000 in British American Tobacco, £40,000 in Glaxosmithkline, and £30,000 in Tesco.

She never married and had no recorded occupation. Her personal possessions were valued at £460.

Louise Gibson, head of individual giving at the RAF Benevolent Fund, said: “The RAF Benevolent Fund is extremely grateful to all generous donors who leave a gift in their Will.

“Funds raised through gifts in wills accounted for more than 50% of the Fund’s total income last year and allow us to continue our vital work looking after the RAF Family, serving and retired personnel and their families.

“As we mark our centenary year this year, it is only thanks to supporters like Ms Hamilton that we are able to look to the future and plan to remain, at the RAF’s side, for the 100 years to come.”

SNP depute leader Keith Brown said: “The SNP is very grateful for every legacy we receive. It is thanks to supporters like Suzy Hamilton that we are able to keep shaping a better future for Scotland.”

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