William John Hamilton (5 July 1805 – 27 June 1867) was a British

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

who served as a

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 i ...

Member of Parliament.

Early life

Hamilton was born in

Wishaw, Lanarkshire Wishaw ( sco, Wishae or Wisha ; gd, Camas Neachdain) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it formed ...

on 5 July 1805. He was the eldest son of

William Richard Hamilton William Richard Hamilton, FRS, (9 September 1777 – 11 July 1859) was a British antiquarian, traveller and diplomat. Early life Hamilton was born in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London in 1777. He was the son of Rev. Anthony Hamilton, Archdeac ...

, FRS, and the former Julia Udny. His younger brothers were Alexander Edmund Hamilton (who drowned in India in 1827), Capt. Henry George Hamilton of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

(father of Adm. Sir Frederick Hamilton), Charles Anthony Hamilton (who worked in 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 ...

office), Arthur Richard Hamilton, and Gen.

Frederick William Hamilton General Sir Frederick William Hamilton, (8 July 1815 – 4 October 1890) was a British Army officer who served as Major General commanding the Brigade of Guards from 1868 to 1870. Early life Hamilton was born in London in 1815, the son of Will ...

. His paternal grandfather was Anthony Hamilton, the

Archdeacon of Colchester The Archdeacon of Colchester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Chelmsford – she or he has responsibilities within her archdeaconry (the Archdeaconry of Colchester) including oversight of church buildings and some supervision, d ...

. His maternal grandparents were John Udny, British Counsul at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and Leghorn, and Selina Shore Clevland (a daughter of John Clevland MP). His uncle, Lt.-Col. John Robert Fullerton Udny inherited

Udny Castle Udny may refer to: * Udny Station, a small village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland * Udny Green, a hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland * Clan Udny, a Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland * Udny Yule (1871–1951), British statistician See also ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

from his uncle, Robert Udny, the prominent merchant and art collector. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

Career

He became a fellow of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1831. In 1835 he made a geological tour of the Levant with

Hugh Edwin Strickland Hugh Edwin Strickland (2 March 1811 – 14 September 1853) was an English geologist, ornithologist, naturalist and systematist. Through the British Association, he proposed a series of rules for the nomenclature of organisms in zoology, known a ...

, continuing on his own through

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and across

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. This journey was described in ''Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, and Armenia'' (1842). Hamilton was the first known person to have successfully climbed

Mount Erciyes Mount Erciyes ( tr, Erciyes Dağı), also known as Argaeus (Greek: ) is a volcano in Turkey. It is a large stratovolcano surrounded by many monogenetic vents and lava domes, and one maar. The bulk of the volcano is formed by lava flows of andesi ...

. He was a

Member of Parliament (MP) for

Newport, Isle of Wight Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, and is in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the nav ...

, from 1841 to 1847. Hamilton was president of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

for 1848–1849 and of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

between 1854 and 1866. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1855. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1862. He made excursions in France and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and wrote on the

rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

and minerals of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, the

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Ancie ...

quarries of

Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in ...

, and on the geology of the Mayence basin and the

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

(or Hesse-Cassel) district.

Personal life

On 26 April 1832, Hamilton married Martin Trotter, a daughter of John Trotter. Before her death in March 1833, they had a son: * Robert William Hamilton (1833–1883), who married Charlotte Maria Palmer, a daughter of Lt.-Col. George Palmer. On 26 July 1838, he married the Hon. Margaret Frances Florence Dillon, a daughter of Henry Augustus Dillon-Lee, 13th Viscount Dillon, and Henrietta Browne (sister to

Dominick Browne, 1st Baron Oranmore and Browne Dominick Browne, 1st Baron Oranmore and Browne Privy Council of Ireland, PC (28 May 1787 – 30 January 1860), was an Irish people, Irish politician. Browne was the son of Dominick Geoffrey Browne and his wife Margaret. She was the daughter of the ...

). They had six children:G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 95. * Margaret Wilhelmina Hamilton (d. 1915), who married Louis Eric Ames, son Henry Ames of Linden. * Florence Selina Hamilton (d. 1904), who married Sir

Thomas Villiers Lister Sir Thomas Villiers Lister (7 May 1832 – 26 February 1902) from the Villiers family was a British diplomat and the Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1873-94. Early life Thomas Villiers Lister was the son of Thoma ...

, son of

Thomas Henry Lister Thomas Henry Lister (1800 – 5 June 1842) was an English novelist and biographer, and served as Registrar General in the British civil service. He was an early exponent of the silver fork novel as a genre and also presaged "futuristic" writing i ...

, in 1877. * Victoria Henrietta Hamilton (d. 1917), who married of

James Graham Goodenough Commodore James Graham Goodenough (3 December 1830 – 20 August 1875) was an officer in the Royal Navy who went on to become Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station. Early life and family He was born at Stoke Hill near Guildford in Surrey, t ...

(parents of Adm. Sir William Edmund Goodenough). * Alexander Charles Hamilton (1840–1920), who successfully claimed the title of 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton. * Constantine Henry Hamilton (1843–1885), a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Artillery who died unmarried. * Archibald William Hamilton (1847–1886), who married Elizabeth Ann Billyard, daughter of W. Billyard, in 1869.Peter W. Hammond, editor, ''The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda'' (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 82 Hamilton died in London in 1867, his wife survived him.

Descendants

As his son Alexander died without surviving male issue, his grandson Robert Hamilton-Udny (son of his youngest son Archibald), inherited the title of 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, William 1805 births 1867 deaths People from Wishaw People educated at Charterhouse School University of Göttingen alumni British geologists Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1841–1847 Fellows of the Geological Society of London Presidents of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Royal Society Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight