William Hamilton (geologist)

William Hamilton
FRS
William Hamilton FRS
Member of Parliament; for Newport
	In office; 22 July 1841 – 26 August 1847 Serving with John Heywood Hawkins
Prime Minister	Robert Peel
Preceded by	William John Blake; Charles Wykeham Martin
Succeeded by	William Plowden; Charles Wykeham Martin
Personal details
Born	William John Hamilton; 5 July 1805; Wishaw, Lanarkshire
Died	27 June 1867 (aged 61); London
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Martin Trotter (m. 1832; died 1833); Margaret Frances Florence Dillon (m. 1838);
Relations	Frederick W. Hamilton (brother); Frederick Hamilton (nephew); John Udny (grandfather)
Children	Robert William Hamilton; Margaret Wilhelmina Hamilton; Florence Selina Hamilton; Victoria Henrietta Hamilton; Alexander Charles Hamilton; Constantine Henry Hamilton; Archibald William Hamilton;
Parent(s)	William Richard Hamilton; Julia Udny
Education	Charterhouse School
Alma mater	University of Göttingen
Occupation	Geologist

William John Hamilton FRS (5 July 1805 – 27 June 1867) was a British geologist who served as a Conservative Member of Parliament.

Early life[edit]

Hamilton was born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire on 5 July 1805. He was the eldest son of William Richard Hamilton, FRS, and the former Julia Udny. His younger brothers were Alexander Edmund Hamilton (who drowned in India in 1827),^[1] Capt. Henry George Hamilton of the Royal Navy (father of Adm. Sir Frederick Hamilton),^[1] Charles Anthony Hamilton (who worked in the Privy Council office),^[1] Arthur Richard Hamilton,^[1] and Gen. Frederick William Hamilton.^[2]^[3]

His paternal grandfather was Anthony Hamilton, the Archdeacon of Colchester. His maternal grandparents were John Udny, British Counsul at Venice and Leghorn, and Selina Shore Clevland (a daughter of John Clevland MP). His uncle, Lt.-Col. John Robert Fullerton Udny inherited Udny Castle in Aberdeen from his uncle, Robert Udny, the prominent merchant and art collector.^[1]

He was educated at Charterhouse School and the University of Göttingen.^[4]

Career[edit]

He became a fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1831. In 1835 he made a geological tour of the Levant with Hugh Edwin Strickland, continuing on his own through Armenia and across Asia Minor. 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.

He was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport, Isle of Wight, from 1841 to 1847.^[5]

Hamilton was president of the Royal Geographical Society for 1848–1849 and of the Geological Society between 1854 and 1866. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1855.^[6] He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1862.^[7]

He made excursions in France and Belgium and wrote on the rocks and minerals of Tuscany, the agate quarries of Oberstein, and on the geology of the Mayence basin and the Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) district.^[8]

Personal life[edit]

On 26 April 1832, Hamilton married Martin Trotter, a daughter of John Trotter. Before her death in March 1833, they had a son:^[4]

Robert William Hamilton (1833–1883), who married Charlotte Maria Palmer, a daughter of Lt.-Col. George Palmer.^[4]

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). They had six children:^[4]

Margaret Wilhelmina Hamilton (d. 1915), who married Louis Eric Ames, son Henry Ames of Linden.^[4]
Florence Selina Hamilton (d. 1904), who married Sir Thomas Villiers Lister, son of Thomas Henry Lister, in 1877.^[4]
Victoria Henrietta Hamilton (d. 1917), who married of James Graham Goodenough (parents of Adm. Sir William Edmund Goodenough).^[4]
Alexander Charles Hamilton (1840–1920), who successfully claimed the title of 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton.^[9]
Constantine Henry Hamilton (1843–1885), a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Artillery who died unmarried.^[4]
Archibald William Hamilton (1847–1886), who married Elizabeth Ann Billyard, daughter of W. Billyard, in 1869.^[10]

Hamilton died in London in 1867, his wife survived him.^[9]

Descendants[edit]

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.^[10]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1878. pp. 97–99. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
^ "Death of Distinguished Fifeshire Veteran". Dundee Courier. 7 October 1890. p. 3.
^ London Lady's Newspaper & Pictorial Times, 16 June 1860
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 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.
^ "Mr William Hamilton (Hansard)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 16 August 2016.
^ "Fellows Details". Royal Society. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
^ Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Hamilton, William John" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
^ ^a ^b Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, US: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. p. 330. OCLC 745497791.
^ ^a ^b 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

External links[edit]

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William John Blake Charles Wykeham Martin	Member of Parliament for Newport 1841–1847 With: John Heywood Hawkins	Succeeded by William Plowden Charles Wykeham Martin

[Burke's1878-1] Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1878. pp. 97–99. Retrieved 11 February 2022.

[dundee-2] "Death of Distinguished Fifeshire Veteran". Dundee Courier. 7 October 1890. p. 3.

[3] London Lady's Newspaper & Pictorial Times, 16 June 1860

[Cokayne2000-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 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.

[5] "Mr William Hamilton (Hansard)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 16 August 2016.

[6] "Fellows Details". Royal Society. Retrieved 19 August 2015.

[7] "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.

[DNB-8] Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Hamilton, William John" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

[Burke_Mosley-9] Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, US: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. p. 330. OCLC 745497791.

[Hammond1998-10] 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

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v t e Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society
19th century	F. J. Robinson George Murray John Barrow William R. Hamilton George Greenough Roderick Murchison Charles Abbot William J. Hamilton William Smyth Roderick Murchison Francis Egerton Frederick Beechey Roderick Murchison Bingham Baring Roderick Murchison Henry Rawlinson Henry Frere Rutherford Alcock Thomas Baring Henry Bruce John Campbell Richard Strachey M. E. Grant Duff Clements Markham
20th century	George Goldie Leonard Darwin George Curzon Douglas Freshfield Thomas Holdich Francis Younghusband Lawrence Dundas David George Hogarth Charles Close William Goodenough Percy Cox Henry Balfour Philip Chetwode Francis Rodd Harry Lindsay James Wordie James Marshall-Cornwall Roger Nathan Raymond Priestley Dudley Stamp Gilbert Laithwaite Edmund Irving Edward Shackleton Duncan Cumming John Hunt Michael John Wise Vivian Fuchs George Bishop Roger Chorley Crispin Tickell George Jellicoe John Palmer
21st century	Ron Cooke Neil Cossons Gordon Conway Michael Palin Judith Rees Nicholas Crane Lynda Chalker Nigel Clifford

v t e Presidents of the Geological Society of London
19th century	George Bellas Greenough Henry Grey Bennet William Blake John MacCulloch George Bellas Greenough Earl Compton William Babington William Buckland John Bostock William Fitton Adam Sedgwick Roderick Murchison George Bellas Greenough Charles Lyell William Whewell William Buckland Roderick Murchison Henry Warburton Leonard Horner Henry De la Beche William Hopkins Edward Forbes William Hamilton Daniel Sharpe Joseph Ellison Portlock John Phillips Leonard Horner Andrew Crombie Ramsay William Hamilton Warington Wilkinson Smyth Thomas Henry Huxley Joseph Prestwich George Douglas Campbell John Evans Peter Martin Duncan Henry Clifton Sorby Robert Etheridge John Whitaker Hulke Thomas Bonney John Wesley Judd William Blanford Archibald Geikie Wilfred Hudleston Henry Woodward Henry Hicks William Whitaker
20th century	Jethro Teall Charles Lapworth John Marr Archibald Geikie William Sollas William Watts Aubrey Strahan Arthur Smith Woodward Alfred Harker George Lamplugh Richard Oldham Albert Seward John Evans Francis Bather John Gregory Edmund Garwood Thomas Holland John Green Owen Thomas Jones Henry Hurd Swinnerton Percy Boswell Herbert Leader Hawkins William Fearnsides Arthur Trueman Herbert Harold Read Cecil Tilley Owen Thomas Jones George Lees William King Walter Campbell Smith Leonard Hawkes James Stubblefield Sydney Hollingworth Oliver Bulman Frederick Shotton Kingsley Dunham Neville George William Alexander Deer Thomas Westoll Percy Kent Wallace Pitcher Percival Allen Howel Francis Janet Watson Charles Holland Bernard Leake Derek Blundell Anthony Harris Charles Curtis R. S. J. Sparks Richard Hardman Robin Cocks
21st century	Ronald Oxburgh Mark Moody-Stuart Peter Styles Richard Fortey Lynne Frostick

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