Lord George Francis Hamilton (17 December 1845 – 22 September 1927) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

and

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

Background

Hamilton was the third son of

James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, (21 January 1811 – 31 October 1885), styled Viscount Hamilton from 1814 to 1818 and The Marquess of Abercorn from 1818 to 1868, was a British Conservative statesman who twice served as Lord Lieutenant of I ...

and Lady Louisa, daughter of

John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the fathe ...

, and was educated at Harrow. He served with the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

and

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

, achieving the rank of lieutenant.

Political career

Hamilton was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

between 1868 and 1885 and for

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

between 1885 and 1906. He served under

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

Under-Secretary of State for India This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the period of British rule between 1858 and 1937 for India(and Burma by extension), and for India and Burma from 193 ...

from 1874 to 1878 and as

Vice-President of the Committee on Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

from 1878 to 1880 and was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1878. He entered the cabinet as

under

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...

in 1885, a post he held until 1886 and again between 1886 and 1892. In 1894 he was elected as Chairman of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

, standing down after one year when the Unionists won the general election and he became

under Salisbury, which he remained until 1903, the last year under the premiership of

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

. In 1903 he was appointed a

GCSI The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

. In 1916 he was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry.

Other public appointments

For a number of years, Hamilton was a member of the board of the

Underground Electric Railways Company of London The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an und ...

(UERL) which ran the majority of London's Underground lines. He served as the company's chairman between 1915 and 1919, following the resignation of Sir

Edgar Speyer Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet (7 September 1862 – 16 February 1932) was an American-born financier and philanthropist. Barker 2004. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of the Speyer fami ...

in 1915. Hamilton also held the honorary posts of

Captain of Deal Castle Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

(1899–1923) and Major of

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

(1909) and received the degree of honorary LLD from

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and of honorary DCL from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He was also a

Justice of Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Middlesex and Westminster. He was also

President of the Royal Statistical Society The president of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), elected biennially by the Fellows of the Society. (The time-period between elections has varied in the past, and in fact elections only rarely occur ...

from 1910 to 1912 and from 1915 to 1916.

Family and children

Hamilton married Lady Maud Caroline, daughter of

Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal ...

, in 1871. They had three sons: *Ronald James Hamilton OBE (1872–1958), who fought in the First World War, was wounded and in 1919 invested an OBE. He was awarded with the decoration of the

Order of the Crown (Belgium) The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national order of the Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897 by King Leopold II * ...

. He served as First Secretary in the Diplomatic Service. In 1915 he married Florence Marguerite (Sarah Brooke) Hanna (d. 1959). They had one daughter: **Maud Sarah Hamilton (1917–1995). In 1939 she married Squadron Leader Count Manfred Maria Edmund Ralph Beckett Czernin von und zu Chudenitz, DFC, DSO, MC,

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(1913–1962). With him she had one son and one daughter. *Major Anthony George Hamilton (1874–1936), who fought in the First World War with the

East Kent Regiment The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

. He died unmarried and without issue. *Vice-Admiral Robert Cecil Hamilton (1882–1947), who fought in the First World War. In 1911 he married Edith Maud Paley (d. 1967), daughter of the barrister Algernon Herbert Paley. Hamilton died in September 1927, aged 81. His wife survived him by eleven years and died in April 1938.

Ancestry

References

External links

*
CricketArchive: Lord George Hamilton
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, George 1845 births 1927 deaths People educated at Harrow School British Secretaries of State Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Coldstream Guards officers Rifle Brigade officers First Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Younger sons of dukes Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Captains of Deal Castle English cricketers English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People associated with transport in London Members of the London School Board Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) English justices of the peace