John Glencairn Carter Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Dalzell (16 November 1829 – 15 October 1900), was a Scottish soldier and politician. Hamilton was born in

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, France, the only son of Archibald James Hamilton, 12th of Orbiston (1793–1834), and was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

. He served in the

2nd Life Guards The 2nd Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated ...

, rising to the rank of commissioned

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a so ...

in 1847, lieutenant in 1849 and captain in 1854. In 1856 he was appointed major in the Queen's Own Royal Glasgow and Lower Ward of Lanarkshire Yeomanry Cavalry. Although retiring from the regular Army in 1860, he continued to serve in the Yeomanry until 1885. He began his political career in 1857 as Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Falkirk Burghs, serving for two years. He later sat for Lanarkshire South in 1868–74 and 1880–86. He also 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 s ...

, and as deputy lieutenant and vice-

lord lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibilit ...

for Lanarkshire. In 1886, Hamilton was raised to the peerage as

Baron Hamilton of Dalzell Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, in the County of Lanark, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1886 for the Liberal politician John Hamilton. He had previously represented Falkirk and Lanarkshire South in the House o ...

. He served in

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...

's government as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (withou ...

from 1892 to 1894. The Hamiltons made large amounts of money in the nineteenth century, as the lands they held in Lanarkshire were sold for coal exploitation. In the late 1850s and 1860s Hamilton was able to greatly extend his home of

Dalzell House Dalzell House ( ) is a historic house in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located to the south of the town, on the north bank of the River Clyde. At its core is a 15th-century tower house, with extensive additions built during the ...

, a former

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

outside

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

, laying out landscaped grounds at the same time. On 29 March 1864 he married Lady Emily Leslie-Melville (died 1882), daughter of

David Leslie-Melville, 8th Earl of Leven David Leslie-Melville, 8th Earl of Leven, 7th Earl of Melville (1785–1860) was a Scottish peer and admiral. He entered the Royal Navy c. 1800; he became Rear Admiral in 1846, and Vice Admiral in 1858. He was a Representative Peer (Tory), for Sc ...

, and had issue: #Archibald John Hamilton (1868–1870) # Gavin George Hamilton (1872– 1952), later 2nd baron #Leslie d'Henin Hamilton (1873–1914) #John David Hamilton (1878–1900)

References

Hamilton of Dalzell, John Glencairn Carter Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, John Glencairn Carter Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, John Glencairn Carter Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, John Glencairn Carter Hamilton, 1st Baron Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs who were granted peerages Hamilton, John Glencairn Carter 1829 births 1900 deaths People educated at Eton College Scottish expatriates in France Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry officers Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria {{Scotland-Liberal-UK-MP-stub