James Hamish Hamilton (15 November 1900 – 24 May 1988) was a half-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

half-

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

rower who competed for Great Britain in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

. He founded the publishing house Hamish Hamilton Limited. Hamilton studied law and language at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge before attracting attention as an oarsman with Thames Rowing Club. He was a member of the Thames

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...

which won the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

in 1927. The Thames eight including Hamilton, won the Grand Challenge Cup again in 1928 and was chosen to represent Great Britain rowing at the 1928 Summer Olympics where they won a silver medal. He married Jean Forbes-Robertson in 1929, but the marriage ended in 1933. Hamilton was an employee of the book department at Harrod's before founding his own publishing house ''Hamish Hamilton'' in the 1930s. He went on to publish a large number of promising British and American authors, many of whom were personal friends and acquaintances of ''Jamie Hamilton''. Jamie Hamilton sold the firm to the Thomson Organisation in 1965, who resold it to Penguin Books in 1986,A biography of Jamie Hamilton and a history of Hamish Hamilton
at the official Hamish Hamilton site (''Hamish'' comes from the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

form, ''James'' the English form – which was also his given name, and ''Jamie'' the

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

form). Jamie Hamilton was often referred to as ''Hamish Hamilton''.

References

Hamish Hamilton Collection
held at the University of Bristol Library Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Jamie 1900 births 1988 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Rowers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rowing Scottish male rowers Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics