Robert Alexander Benjamin Hamilton, 12th Lord Belhaven and Stenton (16 September 1903 – 10 July 1961), was a Scottish soldier, colonial administrator, author, and peer. He was a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of both the

Royal Geographical Society 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 ...

and the

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is the leading advocate for surgical standards, professionalism and surgical education in Australia and New Zealand. Known by its common acronym RACS, it is a not-for-profit organisation, supp ...

Life

The son of

Robert Hamilton-Udny, 11th Lord Belhaven and Stenton Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Edward Archibald Udny-Hamilton, 11th Lord Belhaven and Stenton, Order of the Indian Empire, CIE, Deputy lieutenant, DL (8 April 1871 – 26 October 1950) was a Scotland, Scottish List of Scottish representative peers, rep ...

, by his marriage to Kathleen Gonville Bromhead, the young Hamilton was baptised Robert Alexander Benjamin. He was educated at

Temple Grove School Temple Grove School was a preparatory school for boys, and after 1984 also for girls, originally at Parsons Green, London, later at East Sheen, London, still later at Eastbourne, and finally at Heron's Ghyll, an estate between Uckfield and Crowb ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, then at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, before training for an army career at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. He was an officer of the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Ma ...

between 1924 and 1931, then was seconded to the

Aden Protectorate Levies The Aden Protectorate Levies (APL) was a military force recruited from indigenous tribal populations, for the local defence of the Aden Protectorate under British rule. The Levies were drawn from all parts of the Protectorate and were armed, t ...

between 1931 and 1934, during which time he commanded the unit's Camel Troop. Between 1934 and 1946 Belhaven was an administrator in the Colonial Service in the

Aden Protectorate The Aden Protectorate ( ') was a British protectorate in southern Arabia. The protectorate evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut after the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India in January ...

, during which time he initiated an archeological excavation at Shabwa in South Yemen, the results of which were described in the ''

Geographical Journal ''The Geographical Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). It publishes papers covering research on all aspects of geography. It also publishes shorter C ...

'' in 1942. Some of the antiquities collected in this exercise were presented to the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

in 1954, and others were sent to the museum at

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

. He recorded his experiences in the Arabian Peninsula in ''The Kingdom of Melchior: Adventure in South West Arabia'' as the Master of Belhaven (London, 1949, John Murray) and in ''The Uneven Road'' (London, 1955, John Murray).
/ref> He also published a historical novel, ''The Eagle and the Sun'' (London, 1951, John Murray) as Lord Belhaven about the

Legio X Fretensis Legio X Fretensis ("Tenth legion of the Strait") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was founded by the young Gaius Octavius (later to become Augustus Caesar) in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolu ...

' unsuccessful campaign in

Arabia Felix Arabia Felix (literally: Fertile/Happy Arabia; also Ancient Greek: Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία, ''Eudaemon Arabia'') was the Latin name previously used by geographers to describe South Arabia, or what is now Yemen. Etymology The Latin term ...

under

Aelius Gallus Gaius Aelius Gallus was a Roman prefect of Egypt from 26 to 24 BC. He is primarily known for a disastrous expedition he undertook to Arabia Felix (modern day Yemen) under orders of Augustus. Life Aelius Gallus was the 2nd '' praefect'' of Rom ...

which ended in Mariba. He became a

of the

and of the

. On 20 October 1950 he succeeded to the title of 12th

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 John Hamilton, 1st Lord Belhaven and Stenton, Sir John Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, with remainder to his heirs ...

, and died on 10 July 1961 at the age of 57.

Family

Hamilton's first marriage was to Heather Mildred Carmichael Bell, daughter of Lt.-Col. Richard Carmichael Bell and Mildred Charlotte Davidson-Houston, on 4 February 1926. One child was born of this marriage, Robert Anthony Carmichael Hamilton, on 27 February 1927, who eventually succeeded to the title. On 21 March 1942, after a divorce from his first wife in 1941, he married Cyrilla Mary Binns, daughter of Raymund Louis Binns (late the Yorkshire Regiment, killed in action in 1916) and Maud Cartman. One child was born of this second marriage, Janet Cyrilla Hamilton (19 September 1946 – 16 April 1955)

Notes

External links

* http://www.thepeerage.com/p5648.htm *http://www.adenairways.com/APL.htm *http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/rickards02.htm *http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2624519?&#details *http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/rickards02.htm *http://www.ilab.org/db/detail.php?booknr=353325906 *http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/phillips96.htm *http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/lush98.htm 1903 births 1961 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire Lords of Parliament People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at Temple Grove School People from the Aden Protectorate {{Lord-of-Parliament-stub