The name Tamar, a Hebrew name, means the date fruit or the date palm. (1) There are two women in the Old Testament named Tamar, but I had actually never heard of the name or the women until recently. The Biblical Tamar stories were clearly considered to be too graphic (or have 'Adult themes') for children and thus not mentioned at my Sunday School at the Iona Presbyterian Church and the Pakenham Presbyterian Church in the 1960s and early 1970s [and clearly I haven't studied the Bible since then or I would have been aware of the Tamars.]
The first Tamar was successively the wife of Judah's elder sons, Er and Onan, but she did not become pregnant with either man. When Judah refused to marry her to his third son, Shelah, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and tricked Judah into sleeping with her. She became pregnant, and gave birth to twins, Perez (or Pharez) and Zerah. The story of Tamar is in the book of Genesis, chapter 38. (2)
Judah and Tamar by Arent de Gelder, c. 1680-85.
Image: The Leiden Collection https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/judah-and-tamar/
The second Tamar was the beautiful half-sister of King David's son Amnon, who fell in love with her, enticed her into his chamber and raped her. He then cast her out, but she was avenged by her full brother Absalom, who murdered Amnon two years later. The story of this Tamar is in the book of second Samuel, chapter 13. (3)
The Rape of Tamar by Eustache Le Sueur, c. 1640.
Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436858
I heard about the name Tamar in connection to Tamar Ebden, the wife of Charles Ebden, and I have now belatedly discovered that Tamar was a name used quite consistently in Australia and England in the past, according to the thousands of references which appeared in my search of birth records on Ancestry.com. Charles Ebden built a house in 1856, south of Brighton overlooking Port Phillip Bay, and named it Black Rock. The house gave the suburb its name. Charles Hotson Ebden, born in 1811 in what is now South Africa, settled in Sydney in 1832 and a few years later moved to Victoria, where he purchased land at the first land sale held in Melbourne in June 1837 and later acquired and sold many other properties. He was also at one time a member of the Legislative Council in New South Wales and later the Legislative Assembly in Victoria. (4)
Charles Ebden married Tamar Harding, the daughter of Archdeacon Hardy of County Cork, Ireland. They had the following children - Kate (January 1844 - May 1853), George (September 1847- October 1847), Marian born in June 1849; Antionette in April 1851 and son Charles in 1853. It appears that Charles and Tamar married in January 1850, after the first three children were born; they married at St Peter's Eastern Hill in Melbourne. Charles died in October 1867, aged 56 and left an estate of over £100,000. Tamar Ebden died in London in February 1899 aged 75. (4)
Black Rock House still stands and is open to the public on occasions and Tamar is remembered by Tamar's Tearooms, where you can indulge in a Devonshire tea - see here for all details - https://www.blackrockhouse.org.au/
As a matter of interest the Tamar River in Launceston, Tasmania was named in 1804 by Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson in honour of Governor King who was born at Launceston, which is on the river Tamar in Cornwall, England. (6) Tamar, the river in Cornwall, seems to mean 'dark river'; but to be honest I cannot understand the meaning as described, below, from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names by Eilert Ekwall, (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1947). However, it does not seem to be named after the women called Tamar in the Bible.
River Tamar meaning
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names by Eilert Ekwall, (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1947)
Footnotes
(1) https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6951262/jewish/What-Does-the-Name-Tamar-Mean.htm
(2) Metford, J.C.J Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend (Thames and Hudson, 1983) and Calvocoressi, Peter Who's Who in the Bible ( Penguin, 1990)
(3) Metford, J.C.J Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend (Thames and Hudson, 1983) and Calvocoressi, Peter Who's Who in the Bible ( Penguin, 1990)
(4) Black Rock House: built for Charles Ebden in 1852, Sandringham Historical Series, No.2, published by City of Sandringham, March 1983; Charles Ebden entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ebden-charles-hotson-2018
(5) Black Rock House: built for Charles Ebden in 1852 (see footnote 4); From Ancestry.com - Melbourne General Cemetery transcriptions; St Peter's Eastern Hill Marriages and Baptism records; London Church of England Death and Burials 1813-2003; and England and Wales National Probate Calendar.
(6) Kennedy, Brian Australian Place Names (ABC Books, 2006)
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