Augustus Hamilton (1 March 1853 – 12 October 1913) was a New Zealand ethnologist, biologist and museum director. He was born in

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 1 March 1853. He wrote on the fishing and seafoods of the ancient

Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...

. He also wrote on the art and workmanship of the Maori in New Zealand with a series of illustrations (from photographs). Hamilton became the second director of the Colonial Museum in Wellington, following James Hector, in 1903. He was one of the principal ethnologists in New Zealand at the time; he helped develop the Māori Antiquities Act in 1901 and was the main proponent for building a National Māori Museum. Hamilton was President of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

between 1909 and 1911; preceded by

G. M. Thomson George Malcolm Thomson (2 October 1848 – 25 August 1933) was a New Zealand scientist, educationalist, social worker and politician. Biography Born on 2 October 1848 in Calcutta, Thomson grew up in Scotland, being educated at the Edinbur ...

and followed by

Thomas Frederic Cheeseman Thomas Frederick Cheeseman (8 June 184515 October 1923) was a New Zealand botanist. He was also a naturalist who had wide-ranging interests, such that he even described a few species of sea slugs (marine gastropod molluscs). Biography Che ...

. Hamilton's scientific specimens and other collection items are at Te Papa and other New Zealand institutions.

Family life

Hamilton married Hope Ellen McKain in Napier on 22 September 1882. He had a daughter, Pearl, and a son, Harold. Hamilton died suddenly and prematurely in Russell,

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for ...

, New Zealand in 1913.

References

External links

1853 births 1913 deaths 19th-century New Zealand biologists New Zealand biologists New Zealand curators New Zealand ethnologists People from Poole English emigrants to New Zealand Ethnobiologists Presidents of the Royal Society of New Zealand {{NewZealand-biologist-stub