John Fane Charles Hamilton (28 September 1820 – 29 April 1864) was a British naval officer, after whom the city of
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's ...
, is named. A
statue of him stood in the centre of Hamilton from 2013 to 2020.
Biography
Early life
Hamilton was born in 1820 in
Hildersham, Cambridgeshire, England, where he was christened on 15 July 1821.
His parents were Colonel
John Potter Hamilton (
es) (1778–1873) and Charlotte Hamilton (nee Fane) (1787–1869, a daughter of Oxfordshire farmer and Tory MP
John Fane), who married on 28 December 1813.
Rear-Admiral Francis Fane (1778–1844) was his uncle.
Naval career
Hamilton joined the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
on 28 August 1835,
presumably as a midshipman. He served in the
First Opium War, taking part in "the taking of Amoy, the storming of Chinghae, the attack on the Chinese entrenched camp on the heights of Segoan, the capture of Chapoo, and the engagement with the enemy’s batteries at Woosung" whilst serving under Captain Thomas Bourchier of
HMS ''Blonde'', and in the boat action under Captain George Goldsmith which destroyed "10 fire-vessels with which the Chinese had attempted to annihilate the British shipping and transports at their anchorage off Chinghae".
Although Hamilton passed his examination for lieutenant on 10 November 1841, he then served as Mate aboard
HMS ''Warspite'' under Captain
Provo Wallis
Provo or Provos may refer to:
In geography In the United States
* Provo, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
* Provo, South Dakota, an unincorporated community
* Provo Township, Fall River County, South Dakota
* Provo, Utah, a city
** Provo P ...
and
HMS ''St Vincent'' (then the flag-ship of Sir
Charles Rowley) on the
Lisbon and
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
stations. Hamilton was promoted to Lieutenant on 8 March 1844, and subsequently served on the South American Station, aboard (under Captain John Gordon) from 24 May 1844 to 1 August 1844, and then
HMS ''Racer'' (under Captain Archibald Reed) from 1 August 1844 until the summer of 1846.
He afterwards became senior lieutenant of HMS ''Leander''.
Hamilton served in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
as part of the Naval Brigade at the
Siege of Sevastopol.
He was promoted to Commander on 27 November 1854, and commanded
HMS ''Elk'' in the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...
and in China during the
Second Anglo-Chinese War
The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...
.
Hamilton was again promoted to Captain on 26 February 1858.
Marriage and children
In 1855,
Hamilton married Laura Parry (1831–1918) in
Bicester
Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an eco town at North-East Bicester and self-build village aGraven Hill Its loca ...
, Oxfordshire, England. Their children included:
# Laura Maria Hamilton (1856–?), christened at St Peter in Kent, England, on 14 September 1856;
# John Fane Charles Hamilton (1859–1921), born in Belmont, Hampshire on 14 August 1859. He was a Lieutenant Colonel. On 3 June 1890 John married Gertrude Catherine Mary Angela Stuart (1870–1919), eldest daughter of John Stuart, D.L. J.P. of Ballechin, Co. Perth. He served in the Nile Expedition 1884–85, with 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment; retired pay, 1886; Major 3rd and 4th Battalion (Militia) Lancashire Fusiliers, 1894–1898; Hon Lieut-Colonel, 1898; J.P. (1894) Hampshire; C.A. Isle of Wight Club; Naval and Military. According to the England and Wales Census of 1911, 56-year-old John was living in the Isle of Wight. His address was Spencer Lodge, Spencer-road, Ryde, Isle of Wight. Gertrude died in October 1919. John died on 20 November 1921 and was buried with his mother and Gertrude in Ryde Old Cemetery (Section N Plot 1965a); and
# Arthur C Hamilton (1862–?), born in Ryde, Isle of Wight, in 1862.
New Zealand Wars and death
From 22 May 1863,
Hamilton took command of
HMS ''Esk'' (from commissioning in Portsmouth), and was ordered to the
New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the ...
.
Hamilton directly commanded a detachment of the 43rd Regiment and a party of sailors at the
Battle of Gate Pā
The Tauranga campaign was a six-month-long armed conflict in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty in early 1864, and part of the New Zealand Wars that were fought over issues of land ownership and sovereignty. The campaign was a sequel to the invasion o ...
. He was struck in the head by a bullet during the battle and died on 29 April 1864. Hamilton was buried at the Mission Cemetery in Tauranga.
The ''Daily Southern Cross'' reported on 3 May 1864:
Captain Hamilton wore several mementoes of his gallantry, and the last and fatal act which distinguishes him as a gallant officer cannot be better described than in the words of our special correspondent – "The General, who was in the advanced trench of his position, ordered up the supports almost immediately after the storming party rushed the breach; and the second division of blue-jackets and the gallant 43rd, led by Captain Hamilton, of the 'Esk,' advanced with a ringing cheer to the support of the forlorn hope
A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the kill zone of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defen ...
. They arrived at a critical moment; the storming party exposed to a murderous fire on all sides, and from hidden assailants beneath, and without an officer left to lead them, were wavering; part were outside the pa. Captain Hamilton sprung upon the parapet, and shouting 'follow me, men!' dashed into the fight. That moment was his last. He fell dead, pierced through the brain by a bullet, and many of his officers shared the same fate."
Hamilton's cousin Robert Thomas Francis Hamilton (1835–1864) was killed during the same battle;
he was a captain of the 43rd Light Infantry Regiment.
Legacy
The city of Hamilton, founded in 1864 at the end of the
Waikato War, was named after him as is Hamilton Street in
Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
.
The Waikato Museum holds Hamilton's sword, medals and belt, which were donated by family members.
In 2013 a life-size bronze statue of John was given to Hamilton by the
Gallagher Group "to celebrate 75 years in business". It was produced by
Margriet Windhausen and stood in Civic Square, Hamilton.
On 12 June 2020, the city council in Hamilton removed the statue of Captain Hamilton at the request of local
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
iwi
Waikato Tainui
Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand ...
. Local Māori elder Taitimu Maipi, who had vandalised the statue in 2018, has called for the city to be renamed Kirikiriroa.
References
Bibliography
* (last updated 2020, and see bibliography therein)
*
John Fane Charles Hamilton R.N. The Royal Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, John
Royal Navy officers
1820 births
1864 deaths
Royal Navy personnel of the First Opium War
Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War
Hamilton, New Zealand