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 ...

Alexander Charles Hamilton, 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton, TD DL JP

FRGS 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 ...

(3 July 1840 – 31 October 1920) was a Scottish

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

representative peer In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

and a soldier.

Early life

Hamilton was born on 3 July 1840. He was the son of geologist William Hamilton, 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 ...

and, his second wife, Hon. Margaret Frances Florence Dillon (a daughter of

Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon Henry Augustus Dillon-Lee, 13th Viscount Dillon (1777–1832), was an Irish politician, soldier and writer. Despite being a Protestant, he supported Catholic emancipation in Ireland and wrote on the topic. He sat as MP for Harwich in England in ...

). Among his siblings was Archibald William Hamilton, father of Robert Hamilton. His paternal grandfather was

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 ...

, the

Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (and its predecessors) since 1790. Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Permanent Unde ...

, who was a son of the Ven. Anthony Hamilton,

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 ...

(son of Alexander Hamilton, younger son of William Hamilton, 3rd of

Wishaw 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 ...

Career

He was a Colonel in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

and fought in the

Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coup ...

in 1879. From 1888 to 1902, he was Brigadier of the Surrey Volunteer Infantry Brigade and was awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...

. He was appointed Fellow, Royal Geographical Society. On 6 September 1893, he succeeded his kinsman Alexander Charles Hamilton, as the 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton. In July 1894 his title of

Lord Belhaven and Stenton Lord Belhaven and Stenton, of the County of Haddington, is a Lordship of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1647 for Sir John Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, with remainder to his heirs male. History This branch of the prominent H ...

was confirmed in his favour by the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and the Deputy Lieutenant of

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

. From 1900 until his death in 1920, he served as a Scottish

Representative peer In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

Personal life

On 7 July 1880, he married Georgiana Katharine Richmond (1850–1932), a daughter of Legh Serle Richmond (son of the Rev.

Legh Richmond Legh Richmond (1772–1827) was a Church of England clergyman and writer. He is noted for tracts, narratives of conversion that innovated in the relation of stories of the poor and female subjects, and which were subsequently much imitated. He wa ...

) and the former Charlotte Georgiana Grimshawe (a daughter of

Thomas Shuttleworth Grimshawe Thomas Shuttleworth Grimshawe (1778–1850), was an English biographer and Anglican priest. Life Grimshawe was the son of John Grimshaw, solicitor, and five times mayor of Preston. He was born at Preston in 1778. He entered Brasenose College, Ox ...

). Together, they were the parents of one child: * Ralph Gerard Alexander Hamilton, Master of Belhaven (1883–1918), who was killed during the Battle of Amiens; he married

Lady Grizel Winifred Louisa Cochrane Lady Grizel Winifred Louisa Cochrane (later, Hamilton) (1880–1977) was a Welsh and Scottish aristocrat. She was the daughter of Winifred, Countess of Dundonald and Douglas Cochrane, 12th Earl of Dundonald and the wife of Lt.-Col. Hon. Ralp ...

, daughter of Lt.-Gen.

Douglas Cochrane, 12th Earl of Dundonald Lieutenant General Douglas Mackinnon Baillie Hamilton Cochrane, 12th Earl of Dundonald, (29 October 1852 – 12 April 1935), styled Lord Cochrane between 1860 and 1885, was a Scottish representative peer and a British Army general. Early life ...

. Lord Belhaven and Stenton died at his country seat,

Wishaw House Wishaw House was a large mansion located in Wishaw, Scotland. Once the family seat of the Belhavens and Hamilton family, the mansion was abandoned by the 20th century and was demolished, now nothing more than a ruin in the woodland by the Sou ...

, on 31 October 1920. As his son predeceased him without issue, he was succeeded by his nephew

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, who legally changed his name to Udny-Hamilton in 1934. His widow died on 26 September 1932.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.

References

External links

Alexander Charles Hamilton, 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton (1840-1920), Landowner
at

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belhaven And Stenton, Alexander Hamilton, 10th Lord 1840 births 1920 deaths Lords of Parliament Scottish representative peers Scottish soldiers Deputy Lieutenants of Lanarkshire