Sir (Charles Edward) Archibald Watkin Hamilton (assumed name of Abdullah in 1923),
[The Islamic Review, vol. 12, Khwajah Kamal al-Din, 1924, p. 41] 5th and 3rd Baronet (10 December 1876 – 18 March 1939) was a British convert to
Islam.
[Some converts from 'The Islamic Review', Woking]
/ref>[Articles]
He was the son of Sir Edward Archibald Hamilton, 4th Baronet of Trebishun, Breconshire and 2nd Baronet of Marlborough House, Hampshire (1843–1915) and his wife Mary Elizabeth Gill. He inherited both baronetcies upon the death of his father in 1915. He was also a descendant of William Hamilton, one of the five Kentish Petitioners of 1701, great-grandson of Admiral Sir Edward Joseph Hamilton, 1st Baronet Hamilton of Marlborough House, direct descendant of the Duke of Abercorn
The title Duke of Abercorn () is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1868 and bestowed upon James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn. Although the Dukedom is in the Peerage of Ireland, it refers to Abercorn, West Lothian, and th ...
and also Lord Hamilton who married Princess Mary Stewart of Scotland, daughter of James II of Scotland. He served as a Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
in the Royal Defence Corps The Royal Defence Corps was a corps of the British Army formed in 1916 and disbanded in 1936.
As part of the reorganisation of home defence forces by Field Marshal Sir John French, Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, the Royal Defence Corps was crea ...
and was at one time President of the Selsey
Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounde ...
(Sussex) Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Association, and also later a member of Sir Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
's British Union of Fascists for a brief period during the 1930s.
Marriages and children
He was married three times and twice divorced.
Olga FitzGeorge
Sir Archibald married Olga Mary Adelaide FitzGeorge, daughter of Rear-Admiral Sir Adolphus FitzGeorge
Rear Admiral Sir Adolphus Augustus Frederick FitzGeorge (30 January 1846 – 17 December 1922) was a senior officer of the Royal Navy.
Biography
Adolphus FitzGeorge was born 30 January 1846, the second son of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge ...
KCVO and Sophia Jane Holden, granddaughter of the Duke of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...
and first cousin to Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
on 18 December 1897 in London. The marriage resulted in two children, George Edward Archibald Augustus FitzGeorge Hamilton (30 December 1898 – 18 May 1918) whose baptism was attended by Queen Mary and King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
who along with the Duke of Cambridge were pledged to be his godparents.[Re: Remembering the Noble War Dead]
He was killed in action in May 1918. They had one unnamed daughter (b. 5 May 1902 – d. 5 May 1902). They divorced in 1902.
Algorta Child
In November 1906, he married secondly Algorta Marjory Blanche Child, the daughter of George Child, of Widford, Hertfordshire
Widford is a village and civil parish between Ware and Much Hadham in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire in England. It covers an area of approximately 1,167 acres and contains 220 houses. The River Ash flows through the north of ...
,[Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1741] but she divorced him in 1915.
Lilian Austen
In 1927, Sir Archibald married Lilian Maud (b. 1880 – d. 1964), daughter of William Austen, of Sydenham, Kent. Lady Hamilton also converted to Islam, taking the name Miriam.Woking Muslim Mission: Some of Woking's converts to Islam
/ref>
Conversion to Islam
Sir Archibald converted to Islam on 20 December 1923. He noted that "...the beauty and the simple purity of Islam have always appealed to me. I could never, though born and brought up as a Christian, believe in the dogmatic aspect of the Church... I found that both the Church of Rome and the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
were of no real use to me" and that having converted to Islam he felt "a better and truer man".
Death
He died on 18 March 1939 at the age of 62, and is buried at the Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...
alongside Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley
Rowland George Allanson Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley (19 January 1855 – 22 June 1935), also known as Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq, was an Irish peer and a prominent convert to Islam, who was also one of the leading members of the Woki ...
, they having been "great friends in life" and "close comrades-in-arms in the cause of Islam".
See also
* Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley
*Marmaduke Pickthall
Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (born Marmaduke William Pickthall; 7 April 187519 May 1936) was an English Islamic scholar noted for his 1930 English translation of the Quran, called ''The Meaning of the Glorious Koran''. His translation of the Qur ...
* William Abdullah Quilliam
* Faris Glubb
*Timothy Winter
Abdal Hakim Murad (born: Timothy John Winter; 15 May 1960) is an English academic, theologian and Islamic scholar who is a proponent of Islamic neo-traditionalism. His work includes publications on Islamic theology, modernity, and Anglo-Muslim ...
References
External links
Sir Abdullah Archibald Hamilton's obituary as published in the Islamic Review June 1939
Photographic Archive from The Woking Muslim Mission, England, 1913–1968
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Archibald
1876 births
1939 deaths
Royal Defence Corps officers
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Royal Sussex Regiment officers
Burials at Brookwood Cemetery
Converts to Islam from Christianity
English former Christians
English Muslims
Archibald
Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold".
Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon .
Erkanbald, bishop of ...
Archibald
Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold".
Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon .
Erkanbald, bishop of ...