Richard Mervyn Cole-Hamilton (14 December 1877 – 1959) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest. Cole-Hamilton was born at

Scaldwell Scaldwell is a village and civil parish in the West, Northamptonshire, England. The village's name means 'spring/stream which is shallow'. Scaldwell is tiny and has neither shops nor pubs; at the time of the 2001 census the parish had a popu ...

on 14 December 1877, son of Rev. Arthur Henry Cole-Hamilton (1846-1889), rector of

Castle Ashby Castle Ashby is the name of a civil parish, an estate village and an English country house in rural Northamptonshire. Historically the village was set up to service the needs of Castle Ashby House, the seat of the Marquess of Northampton. The v ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, and Harriet Elizabeth (died 1913), daughter of John Tisdall. The Cole-Hamiltons descend from

Arthur Cole-Hamilton Hon. Arthur Cole-Hamilton (born Cole; 8 August 1750 – 1810) was an Anglo-Irish politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons for Fermanagh and Enniskillen. After the Acts of Union 1800, he sat in British House of Commons for Enniskillen. C ...

, a younger son of the Irish politician

John Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence John Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence (13 October 1709 – 30 November 1767) was an Irish peer and politician. Born in Dublin, he was the son of John Cole, Member of Parliament for Enniskillen. In 1726 he was admitted to Trinity College Dublin,''Al ...

, whose eldest son and heir,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, was created

Earl of Enniskillen Earl of Enniskillen is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for William Cole, 1st Viscount Enniskillen. He had already been created Viscount Enniskillen in the Peerage of Ireland in 1776 and had inherited the title Baron ...

. A great-grandson is the Scottish politician

Alex Cole-Hamilton Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton (born 22 July 1977) is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Western constituency since 2 ...

. Cole-Hamilton was educated at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

(BA 1901, MA 1903), and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in 1902, and priest in 1903. He was a temporary Chaplain in the Armed Forces from 1915 to 1916, and Canon of Brecon in 1941. After

curacies A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

and

Llansamlet Llansamlet is a suburban district and community of Swansea, Wales, falling into the Llansamlet ward. The area is centred on the A48 road (named Samlet Road and Clase Road in the area) and the M4 motorway. Like other places in Wales having a name ...

he held incumbencies at

Stokesay Stokesay is a historic hamlet in Shropshire, England just south of Craven Arms on the A49 road, also fleetingly visible from the Shrewsbury to Hereford Welsh Marches railway line. Less than a mile to the north is the small town of Craven Arms an ...

and

Llangattock Llangattock ( cy, Llangatwg) is a village, community and electoral ward in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. It lies in the Usk Valley just across the river from the town of Crickhowell. The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal passe ...

. He was

Archdeacon of Brecon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of most ...

from 1947 to 1955.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, vol. 1, p. 1328

References

1878 births 1959 deaths Archdeacons of Brecon 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford People from Northamptonshire {{ChurchinWales-clergy-stub