Lord George Hamilton

British politician

The Right Honourable Lord George Hamilton GCSI PC JP


First Lord of the Admiralty
In office 24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	The Earl of Northbrook
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Ripon
In office 9 August 1886 – 11 August 1892
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	The Marquess of Ripon
Succeeded by	The Earl Spencer
Secretary of State for India
In office 4 July 1895 – 9 October 1903
Monarchs	Queen Victoria Edward VII
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Preceded by	Henry Fowler
Succeeded by	Hon. St John Brodrick

Personal details
Born	(1845-12-17)17 December 1845
Died	22 September 1927(1927-09-22) (aged 81)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Lady Maud Lascelles (1846–1938)
Children	3
Parent(s)	James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn Lady Louisa Russell
Alma mater	Harrow School

Lord George Francis Hamilton GCSI PC JP (17 December 1845 – 22 September 1927) was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for India.

Background

Hamilton was the third son of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn and Lady Louisa, daughter of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, and was educated at Harrow. He served with the Rifle Brigade and Coldstream Guards, achieving the rank of lieutenant.

Political career

Hamilton was Member of Parliament for Middlesex between 1868 and 1885 and for Ealing between 1885 and 1906. He served under Benjamin Disraeli as Under-Secretary of State for India from 1874 to 1878 and as Vice-President of the Committee on Education from 1878 to 1880 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1878.

He entered the cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty under Lord Salisbury in 1885, a post he held until 1886 and again between 1886 and 1892. In 1894 he was elected as Chairman of the London School Board, standing down after one year when the Unionists won the general election and he became Secretary of State for India under Salisbury, which he remained until 1903, the last year under the premiership of Arthur Balfour. He was appointed a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) in the 1903 Durbar Honours.^[1]^[2]

In 1916 he was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry.

Other public appointments

For a number of years, Hamilton was a member of the board of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) which ran the majority of London's Underground lines. He served as the company's chairman between 1915 and 1919, following the resignation of Sir Edgar Speyer in 1915.^[3]^[4]

Hamilton also held the honorary posts of Captain of Deal Castle (1899–1923) and Major of Deal (1909) and received the degree of honorary LLD from Glasgow University and of honorary DCL from the University of Oxford. He was also a Justice of Peace for Middlesex and Westminster. Hamilton was a Founder of the London School Board Masonic Lodge No. 2611 in 1896

He was also President of the Royal Statistical Society from 1910 to 1912 and from 1915 to 1916.^[5]

Family and children

Hamilton married Lady Maud Caroline, daughter of Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood, in 1871. They had three sons:

Ronald James Hamilton OBE (1872–1958), who fought in the First World War, was wounded and in 1919 invested an OBE. He was awarded with the decoration of the Order of the Crown (Belgium). He served as First Secretary in the Diplomatic Service. In 1915 he married Florence Marguerite (Sarah Brooke) Hanna (d. 1959). They had one daughter:
- Maud Sarah Hamilton (1917–1995). In 1939 she married Squadron Leader Count Manfred Maria Edmund Ralph Beckett Czernin von und zu Chudenitz, DFC, DSO, MC, RAF (1913–1962). With him she had one son and one daughter.
Major Anthony George Hamilton (1874–1936), who fought in the First World War with the East Kent Regiment. He died unmarried and without issue.
Vice-Admiral Robert Cecil Hamilton (1882–1947), who fought in the First World War. In 1911 he married Edith Maud Paley (d. 1967), daughter of the barrister Algernon Herbert Paley.

Hamilton died in September 1927, aged 81. His wife survived him by eleven years and died in April 1938.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Lord George Hamilton

16. Captain The Hon. John Hamilton

8. John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn

17. Harriet Craggs

4. James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton

18. Sir Joseph Copley, 1st Baronet

9. Catherine Copley

19. Mary Buller

2. James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn

20. James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton

10. The Hon. John Douglas

21. Bridget Heathcote

5. Harriet Douglas

22. Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood

11. Lady Frances Lascelles

23. Anne Chaloner

1. Lord George Hamilton

24. John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford

12. Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock

25. The Hon. Gertrude Leveson-Gower

6. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford

26. Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle

13. Lady Elizabeth Keppel

27. Lady Anne Lennox

3. Lady Louisa Jane Russell

28. Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon

14. Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon

29. Lady Catherine Gordon

7. Lady Georgina Gordon

30. Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet of Monreith, Wigtownshire

15. Jane Maxwell

31. Magdalen Blair

References

^ "The Durbar Honours". The Times. No. 36966. London. 1 January 1903. p. 8.
^ "No. 27511". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1903. p. 2.
^ "New Chairman of the Underground". The Times. No. 40858. 19 May 1915. p. 13. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
^ "Sir A. Stanley on Railway Services". The Times. No. 42114. 31 May 1919. p. 12. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
^ "Royal Statistical Society Presidents". Royal Statistical Society. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lord George Hamilton.

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord George Hamilton
CricketArchive: Lord George Hamilton
"Hamilton, Rt. Hon. Lord George Francis" . Thom's Irish Who's Who . Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. 102 – via Wikisource.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Viscount Enfieldand Henry Labouchère	Member of Parliament for Middlesex 1868 – 1885 With: Viscount Enfield 1857–1874 Octavius Edward Coope 1874–1885	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Ealing 1885 – 1906	Succeeded by Sir Herbert Nield
Political offices
Preceded by M. E. Grant Duff	Under-Secretary of State for India 1874 – 1878	Succeeded by Hon. Edward Stanhope
Preceded by Viscount Sandon	Vice-President of the Committee on Education 1878–1880	Succeeded by A. J. Mundella
Preceded by The Earl of Northbrook	First Lord of the Admiralty 1885 – 1886	Succeeded by The Marquess of Ripon
Preceded by The Marquess of Ripon	First Lord of the Admiralty 1886 – 1892	Succeeded by The Earl Spencer
Preceded by Henry Fowler	Secretary of State for India 1895 – 1903	Succeeded by Hon. St John Brodrick
Government offices
Preceded by Joseph Diggle	Chairman of the London School Board 1894 – 1895	Succeeded by The Marquess of Londonderry
Business positions
Preceded by Sir Edgar Speyer	Chairman, Underground Electric Railways Company of London 1915–1919	Succeeded by Sir Albert Stanley

Cabinet of Prime Minister The Marquess of Salisbury (July 1885 – February 1886)

Prime Minister
Foreign Secretary
Leader of the House of Lords

The Marquess of Salisbury (1885–1886)

First Lord of the Treasury

The Earl of Iddesleigh (1885–1886)

Lord Chancellor

The Lord Halsbury (1885–1886)

Lord President of the Council

The Viscount Cranbrook (1885–1886)

Lord Privy Seal

The Earl of Harrowby (1885–1886)

Home Secretary

Sir Richard Cross (1885–1886)

Secretary of State for the Colonies

Sir Frederick Stanley (1885–1886)

Secretary of State for War

William Henry Smith (1885–1886)
The Viscount Cranbrook (1886)

Secretary of State for India

Lord Randolph Churchill (1885–1886)

First Lord of the Admiralty

Lord George Hamilton (1885–1886)

Chancellor of the Exchequer
Leader of the House of Commons

Sir Michael Hicks Beach (1885–1886)

President of the Board of Trade

The Duke of Richmond (1885)
Edward Stanhope (1885–1886)

Chief Secretary for Ireland

William Henry Smith (1886)

Postmaster General

Lord John Manners (1885–1886)

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Earl of Carnarvon (1885–1886)

Lord Chancellor of Ireland

The Lord Ashbourne (1885–1886)

Secretary for Scotland

The Duke of Richmond (1885–1886)

Vice President of the Council

Edward Stanhope (1885)

v t e Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
19th century	1834–1836 The Marquess of Lansdowne 1836–1838 Sir Charles Lemon, Bt 1838–1840 The Earl FitzWilliam 1840–1842 Viscount Sandon 1842–1843 The Marquess of Lansdowne 1843–1845 Lord Ashley 1845–1847 The Lord Monteagle of Brandon 1847–1849 The Earl FitzWilliam 1849–1851 The Earl of Harrowby 1851–1853 The Lord Overstone 1853–1855 The Earl FitzWilliam 1855–1857 The Earl of Harrowby 1857–1859 Lord Stanley 1859–1861 Lord John Russell 1861–1863 Sir John Pakington, Bt 1863–1865 William Henry Sykes 1865–1867 The Lord Houghton 1867–1869 William Ewart Gladstone 1869–1871 William Newmarch 1871–1873 William Farr 1873–1875 William Guy 1875–1877 James Heywood 1877–1879 George Shaw-Lefevre 1879–1880 Thomas Brassey 1880–1882 James Caird 1882–1884 Robert Giffen 1884–1886 Rawson W. Rawson 1886–1888 George Goschen 1888–1890 Thomas Graham Balfour 1890–1892 Frederic J. Mouat 1892–1894 Charles Booth 1894–1896 The Lord Farrer 1896–1897 John Biddulph Martin 1897 Alfred Edmund Bateman 1897–1899 Leonard Courtney 1899–1900 Henry Fowler 1900–1902 The Lord Avebury
20th century	1902–1904 Patrick George Craigie 1904–1905 Sir Francis Powell, Bt 1905–1906 The Earl of Onslow 1906–1907 Richard Martin 1907–1909 Sir Charles Dilke, Bt 1909–1910 Jervoise Athelstane Baines 1910–1912 Lord George Hamilton 1912–1914 Francis Ysidro Edgeworth 1914–1915 The Lord Welby 1915–1916 Lord George Hamilton 1916–1918 Bernard Mallet, Registrar General 1918–1920 Herbert Samuel 1920–1922 R. Henry Rew 1922–1924 The Lord Emmott 1924–1926 Udny Yule 1926–1928 The Viscount D'Abernon 1928–1930 A. William Flux 1930–1932 Sir Josiah Stamp 1932–1934 The Lord Meston 1934–1936 Major Greenwood 1936–1938 The Lord Kennet 1938–1940 Arthur Lyon Bowley 1940–1941 Henry William Macrosty 1941 Hector Leak 1941–1943 William Beveridge 1943–1945 Ernest Charles Snow 1945–1947 The Lord Woolton 1947–1949 David Heron 1949–1950 Sir Geoffrey Heyworth 1950–1952 Austin Bradford Hill 1952–1954 Ronald Fisher 1954–1955 The Lord Piercy 1955–1957 Egon Pearson 1957–1959 Harry Campion 1959–1960 Hugh Beaver 1960–1962 Maurice Kendall 1962–1964 Joseph Oscar Irwin 1964–1965 Sir Paul Chambers 1965–1966 L. H. C. Tippett 1966–1967 M. S. Bartlett 1967–1968 Frank Yates 1968–1969 Arthur Cockfield 1969–1970 R. G. D. Allen 1970–1971 Bernard Benjamin 1971–1972 George Alfred Barnard 1972–1973 Harold Wilson 1973–1974 D. J. Finney 1974–1975 Henry Daniels 1975–1977 Stella Cunliffe 1977–1978 Henry Wynn 1978–1980 Sir Claus Moser 1980–1982 David Cox 1982–1984 Peter Armitage 1984–1985 Walter Bodmer 1985–1986 John Nelder 1986–1987 James Durbin 1987–1989 John Kingman 1989–1991 Peter G. Moore 1991–1993 T. M. F. Smith 1993–1995 D. J. Bartholomew 1995–1997 Adrian Smith 1997–1999 Robert Nicholas Curnow 1999–2001 Denise Lievesley
21st century	2001–2003 Peter Green 2003–2005 Andy Grieve 2005–2007 Tim Holt 2008–2009 David Hand 2010–2010 Bernard Silverman (resigned Feb 2010; replaced pro tem by David Hand) 2011–2012 Valerie Isham 2013–2014 John Pullinger 2014–2016 Peter Diggle 2017–2018 David Spiegelhalter 2019– Deborah Ashby
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