Robert Thomas Hamilton (died 1677) was a military officer who served in Denmark and Norway. He served as the first County Governor of Lister og Mandal county from 1671 until around 1675. Robert Hamilton was born in

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 ...

. He began as an officer for army for the

Kingdom of Denmark-Norway Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

in 1657, serving in the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

. This was during a time of an alliance between the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

who ruled in Britain and the

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty with links to Denmark since the 15th century. It has branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig, Duchy ...

who ruled in Denmark-Norway. He was promoted to

captain 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 ...

in Norway in 1658 and became a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

watchmaster in 1660. Hamilton's promotion continued and he made

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in 1661 due to a commendation by King Charles II. He was also named a

Knight of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant ( da, Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional ...

the same year. In 1668, King

Frederik III Frederick III ( da, Frederik; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bi ...

of Denmark-Norway ordered the Governor-general of Norway to pay 2000 rigsdaler of the army's money to Hamilton in advance of his wages. In 1670, Hamilton left the cavalry and became commander of

Kronborg Castle Kronborg is a castle and stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was inscribed on the UNES ...

and was also appointed as the County Governor of Lister og Mandals amt in 1671. These appointments happened after years of service by the Scotsman to the Danish-Norwegian Oldenburg monarchy. He continued as governor until he resigned around 1675 when the

Scanian War The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...

broke out between the kingdoms of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and Denmark-Norway. At some point Hamilton raised a marine regiment of about 1,000 men for the navy at his own expense. These marines were still in service in the forces of Rigsadmiral

Gustaf Otto Stenbock Count Gustaf Otto Stenbock (7 September 1614 – 24 September 1685) was a Swedish soldier and politician. He was son of Friherre Gustav Eriksson Stenbock (1575–1629) and Countess Beata Margareta Brahe (1583–1645), born in Torpa, Länghem p ...

in 1679, although Hamilton himself died before that date. Hamilton is said to have died on 16 February 1677 in Norway and was buried at the King's cost in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 7 May 1677.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Robert (Norwegian Governor) 1677 deaths Scottish mercenaries Scottish knights County governors of Norway 17th-century Scottish military personnel 17th-century Danish military personnel