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 Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

.Some converts from 'The Islamic Review', Woking
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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 and also Lord Hamilton who married Princess Mary Stewart of Scotland, daughter of

James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his father. ...

. He served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Defence Corps and was at one time President of the Selsey (Sussex) Conservative Association, and also later a member of Sir Oswald Mosley's

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...

for a brief period during the 1930s.

Marriages and children

FitzGeorge Family Four Generations Portrait 1900

He was married three times and twice divorced.

Olga FitzGeorge

Sir Archibald married Olga Mary Adelaide FitzGeorge, daughter of Rear-Admiral Sir Adolphus FitzGeorge KCVO and Sophia Jane Holden, granddaughter of the Duke of Cambridge and first cousin to Queen Victoria 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 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 t ...

,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 Sydenham () is a district of south-east London, England, which is shared between the London boroughs of Lewisham, Bromley and Southwark. Prior to the creation of the County of London in 1889, Sydenham was located in Kent, bordering Surrey. Histo ...

. 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 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 alongside Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley, they having been "great friends in life" and "close comrades-in-arms in the cause of Islam".

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