Hugh Montgomerie Hamilton (26 June 1854 – 11 August 1930) was an Australian barrister and judge who played international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

from 1874 to 1875.

Early life

Hamilton was born at

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

in the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

, the eldest son of Margaret Clunes and Hugh Hamilton, a pastoralist from

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, Scotland. He was educated at Geneva, Edinburgh and

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Hamilton was a member of the Marlborough College rugby team for 3 years, the last as captain, subsequently playing for West of Scotland and

Marlborough Nomads The Marlborough Nomads was a 19th-century English rugby union club that was notable for being one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union. They also supplied a number of players for the sport's early international fixtures. ...

International career

In 1874 he was selected by both England and Scotland for the fixture at The Oval on 23 February 1874, electing to play for Scotland. His second - and last - match for Scotland, again against England, was the fixture at

Raeburn Place Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there. Rugby The first ever international rugby football game was played on the playing fields at Raeburn Place on 27 Ma ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 8 March 1875. He is credited with introducing the passing game into rugby union, along with (Sir) William Milton.

Legal career

Hamilton was a student of the Inner Temple from 22 May 1875, studying law at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and graduating in 1877. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 15 May 1878. He practiced as a barrister for 11 years before returning to Sydney in 1890. On 12 May 1914 he was appointed a judge of the District Court of NSW, where he served for more than 19 years, before being retired at age 70 in 1924.

Personal life

He married Adelaide Eliza Margaret Northcott on 18 March 1880. He married a second time to Minnie who predeceased him on 9 August 1924. He died at

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A ...

on 11 August 1930 (aged 76), survived by a daughter and two sons from his second marriage.

References

1854 births 1930 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players West of Scotland FC players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Sydney Judges of the District Court of NSW 20th-century Australian judges 19th-century Australian sportspeople Colony of New South Wales people Sportsmen from New South Wales 19th-century Australian lawyers New South Wales lawyers {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub