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{{Short description|British antiquarian}}
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'''William Richard Hamilton''', [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]], (1777–1859) was a British [[antiquarian]], traveller and [[diplomat]]. He was son of Rev. Anthony Hamilton, Archdeacon of [[Colchester]] and Anne, daughter of Richard Terrick, [[Bishop of London]].
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox officeholder
| image = William Richard Hamilton Lane.jpg
| caption =
| office = President of the [[Royal Geographical Society]]
| term_start = 1841
| term_end = 1843
| predecessor = [[George Bellas Greenough]]
| successor = [[Sir Roderick Murchison]]
| term_start1 = 1837
| term_end1 = 1839
| predecessor1 = [[Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet|Sir John Barrow]]
| successor1 = [[George Bellas Greenough]]
| office2 = [[List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Two Sicilies|British Minister to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]
| term_start2 = 1822
| term_end2 = 1825
| predecessor2 = [[William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury|Sir William à Court]]
| successor2 = [[William Noel Hill]]
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1777|09|09|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[St Martin-in-the-Fields, London]]
| death_date = {{dda|1859|07|11|1777|09|09|df=yes}}
| death_place = London
| education = [[Harrow School]]
| alma_mater = [[St John's College, Cambridge]]
| parents = [[Anthony Hamilton (Archdeacon of Colchester)|Anthony Hamilton]]<br />Anne Terrick
| spouse =
| children =
| relations = [[William Hamilton (antiquarian)|William Hamilton]] (grandfather)<br />[[Richard Terrick]] (grandfather)
⚫
}}
⚫
'''William Richard Hamilton''', [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]], (9 September 1777 – 11 July 1859) was a British [[antiquarian]], traveller and [[diplomat]].


==Early life==
⚫
In 1799 he was appointed chief private secretary to [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]]. He was in [[Egypt]] as the British took it over from the French, and secured the [[Rosetta Stone]].<ref>http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/4482/Rosetta.html&date=2009-10-25+11:24:57</ref> After a voyage up the [[Nile]], he wrote a well-known work of Egyptology.<ref>''Remarks on Several Parts of Turkey, Part 1: Aegyptica or Some Account of the Ancient and Modern State of Egypt Obtained in the Years 1801-02'', (1809)</ref>
Hamilton was born in [[St Martin-in-the-Fields, London]] in 1777. He was the son of Rev. [[Anthony Hamilton (Archdeacon of Colchester)|Anthony Hamilton]], [[Archdeacon of Colchester]] and the former Anne Terrick, daughter of [[Richard Terrick]], [[Bishop of London]]. His brother was [[Anthony Hamilton (Archdeacon of Taunton)|Anthony Hamilton]], the [[Archdeacon of Taunton]] and the father of Bishop [[Walter Kerr Hamilton]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Charles Roger Dod|author-link=Charles Roger Dod|title=Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wEdAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA477|year=1855|publisher=S. Low, Marston & Company|page=477}}</ref>


His father was the fifth son of the Scottish antiquarian [[William Hamilton (antiquarian)|William Hamilton]]<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Hamilton, William (d.1724)|volume=24}}</ref> who had married the heiress Charlotte Styles, and so acquired the Essex manor of Holyfield (Hallifield), in the north-east of the parish of [[Waltham Holy Cross]] which remained in the family into the 19th century.<ref>'Waltham Holy Cross: Introduction and manors', in ''A History of the County of Essex'': Volume 5, ed. W R Powell (London, 1966), pp. 151–162 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol5/pp151-162 [accessed 7 September 2015].</ref>
⚫
From 1809 to 1822 Hamilton served as [[Permanent Secretary|Permanent Under-Secretary]] for Foreign Affairs, and from 1822 to 1825 he was Minister and Envoy Plenipotentiary at the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]].
In 1830 he succeeded [[Thomas Lawrence (painter)|Sir Thomas Lawrence]] as Secretary of the [[Society of Dilettanti]], a post which he held until his death in 1859.


He studied at [[Harrow School]] and [[St John's College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|id= HMLN795WR|name=Hamilton, William}}</ref>
The geologist [[William John Hamilton]] was his son.


==Notes==
==Career==
⚫
In 1799 he was appointed chief private secretary to [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]]. He was in [[Egypt]] as the British took it over from the French, secured the [[Rosetta Stone]] and superintended its transport to England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/4482/Rosetta.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630003116/http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/4482/Rosetta.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-06-30|title=Bicentenary of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone|website=www.webcitation.org}}</ref> "He also superintended the shipment of the [[Elgin Marbles|Parthenon sculptures]] for Lord Elgin and the recovery of those subsequently lost at sea."<ref name="britishmuseum"/> After a voyage up the [[Nile]], he wrote a well-known work of Egyptology, ''[[Ægyptiaca]]''.<ref>''Remarks on Several Parts of Turkey, Part 1: Aegyptiaca or Some Account of the Ancient and Modern State of Egypt Obtained in the Years 1801-02'', (1809)</ref>
<references/>

⚫
From 1809 to 1822 Hamilton served as [[Permanent Secretary|Permanent Under-Secretary]] for Foreign Affairs, and from 1822 to 1825 he was [[List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Two Sicilies|Minister and Envoy Plenipotentiary]] at the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]], based at [[Naples]].<ref name="britishmuseum"/>

In 1830 he succeeded [[Thomas Lawrence (painter)|Sir Thomas Lawrence]] as Secretary of the [[Society of Dilettanti]], a post which he held until his death in 1859. He was also a Trustee of The [[British Museum]] from 1838 until 1858, and donated a number of antiquities to the institution.<ref name="britishmuseum"/> Upon Hamilton's resignation as trustee of the British Museum, Sir [[Frederic Madden]], the Keeper of Manuscripts, recorded in his diary on 11 February 1858:

<blockquote>''"I was informed today that Mr W. R. Hamilton, the Trustee, had resigned. God be thanked! This is the man who has carried his Italian friend ''[ [[Antonio Panizzi]], q.v.]'' through thick & thin from the time when he first came to the Museum to the present time. A more prejudiced person never existed, nor a greater jobber, when it related to himself or his friends. A man also of violent temper & insolent tongue, whose only & sole aim at the Museum seems to have been to glorify Mr. P. and abuse every thing but the [[Elgin Marbles]]. I say again, God be thanked he is gone, and I hope never again to see his ugly face and his crooked legs! He is the only man who ever insulted me in the Committee Room, & yet mean enough to solicit me to lend myself to his dirty jobs, which I always refused to do. The officers of the Department of Antiquities know better than myself what a curse this man has been to the Museum as a Trustee!"''<ref name="britishmuseum"/></blockquote>

==Personal life==
On 3 September 1804 Hamilton was married to Julia Udny, a daughter of Selina Shore Clevland (a daughter of [[John Clevland (1706–1763)|John Clevland]] MP) and [[John Udny]], the British Consul at Venice and Leghorn. Her brother was Lt.-Col. John Robert Fullerton Udny of [[Udny Castle]], [[Aberdeen]]. Together, they were the parents of:<ref name="Burke's1878">{{cite book |title=Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage |date=1878 |publisher=Burke's Peerage Limited. |pages=97–99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YyJNAQAAMAAJ |access-date=11 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

* [[William Hamilton (geologist)|William John Hamilton]] (1805–1867), a geologist who married Martin Trotter, daughter of John Trotter, in 1832. After her death in 1833, he married Hon. Margaret Frances Florence Dillon, a daughter of [[Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon]].<ref name="Burke's1878"/>
* Alexander Edmund Hamilton (1806–1827), who drowned in India.<ref name="Burke's1878"/>
* Capt. Henry George Hamilton (1808–1879), of the [[Royal Navy]] who married Fanny Elizabeth Tower and was the father of Adm. [[Frederick Hamilton (Royal Navy officer)|Sir Frederick Hamilton]].<ref name="Burke's1878"/>
* Charles Anthony Hamilton (1809–1860), who worked in the [[Privy Council]] office and died unmarried.<ref name="Burke's1878"/>
* Arthur Richard Hamilton (1814–1882), who died unmarried.<ref name="Burke's1878"/>
* Gen. [[Frederick William Hamilton]] (1815–1890),<ref name="dundee">{{cite news|newspaper=Dundee Courier|date=7 October 1890|page=3|title=Death of Distinguished Fifeshire Veteran}}</ref> who married Louisa Anne Erskin Anstruther, a daughter of [[Alexander Anstruther (judge)|Sir Alexander Anstruther]].<ref>London Lady's Newspaper & Pictorial Times, 16 June 1860</ref>

Hamilton died in London on 11 July 1859.<ref name="britishmuseum">{{cite web |title=Collections Online {{!}} William Richard Hamilton |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG53806 |website=www.britishmuseum.org |publisher=[[British Museum]] |access-date=11 February 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-dip}}
{{succession box | title=[[List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Two Sicilies|British Minister to the<br />Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]] | before= [[William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury|Sir William à Court]] | years= 1822–1825 | after= [[William Noel Hill]] }}
{{S-end}}


{{RGSPresidents}}
{{RGSPresidents}}
{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Hamilton, William Richard
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British diplomat
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1777
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 1859
| PLACE OF DEATH =
⚫
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, William Richard}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, William Richard}}
[[Category:1777 births]]
[[Category:1777 births]]
[[Category:1859 deaths]]
[[Category:1859 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century antiquarians]]
[[Category:19th-century antiquarians]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society]]
[[Category:Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs]]
[[Category:Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs]]
[[Category:Heads of Missions of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Ambassadors to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:Elgin Marbles]]

Latest revision as of 15:43, 30 September 2023

William Richard Hamilton
President of the Royal Geographical Society
In office
1841–1843
Preceded byGeorge Bellas Greenough
Succeeded bySir Roderick Murchison
In office
1837–1839
Preceded bySir John Barrow
Succeeded byGeorge Bellas Greenough
British Minister to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
In office
1822–1825
Preceded bySir William à Court
Succeeded byWilliam Noel Hill
Personal details
Born(1777-09-09)9 September 1777
St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
Died11 July 1859(1859-07-11) (aged 81)
London
RelationsWilliam Hamilton (grandfather)
Richard Terrick (grandfather)
Parent(s)Anthony Hamilton
Anne Terrick
EducationHarrow School
Alma materSt John's College, Cambridge

William Richard Hamilton, FRS, (9 September 1777 – 11 July 1859) was a British antiquarian, traveller and diplomat.

Early life[edit]

Hamilton was born in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London in 1777. He was the son of Rev. Anthony Hamilton, Archdeacon of Colchester and the former Anne Terrick, daughter of Richard Terrick, Bishop of London. His brother was Anthony Hamilton, the Archdeacon of Taunton and the father of Bishop Walter Kerr Hamilton.[1]

His father was the fifth son of the Scottish antiquarian William Hamilton[2] who had married the heiress Charlotte Styles, and so acquired the Essex manor of Holyfield (Hallifield), in the north-east of the parish of Waltham Holy Cross which remained in the family into the 19th century.[3]

He studied at Harrow School and St John's College, Cambridge.[4]

Career[edit]

In 1799 he was appointed chief private secretary to Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. He was in Egypt as the British took it over from the French, secured the Rosetta Stone and superintended its transport to England.[5] "He also superintended the shipment of the Parthenon sculptures for Lord Elgin and the recovery of those subsequently lost at sea."[6] After a voyage up the Nile, he wrote a well-known work of Egyptology, Ægyptiaca.[7]

From 1809 to 1822 Hamilton served as Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and from 1822 to 1825 he was Minister and Envoy Plenipotentiary at the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, based at Naples.[6]

In 1830 he succeeded Sir Thomas Lawrence as Secretary of the Society of Dilettanti, a post which he held until his death in 1859. He was also a Trustee of The British Museum from 1838 until 1858, and donated a number of antiquities to the institution.[6] Upon Hamilton's resignation as trustee of the British Museum, Sir Frederic Madden, the Keeper of Manuscripts, recorded in his diary on 11 February 1858:

"I was informed today that Mr W. R. Hamilton, the Trustee, had resigned. God be thanked! This is the man who has carried his Italian friend [ Antonio Panizzi, q.v.] through thick & thin from the time when he first came to the Museum to the present time. A more prejudiced person never existed, nor a greater jobber, when it related to himself or his friends. A man also of violent temper & insolent tongue, whose only & sole aim at the Museum seems to have been to glorify Mr. P. and abuse every thing but the Elgin Marbles. I say again, God be thanked he is gone, and I hope never again to see his ugly face and his crooked legs! He is the only man who ever insulted me in the Committee Room, & yet mean enough to solicit me to lend myself to his dirty jobs, which I always refused to do. The officers of the Department of Antiquities know better than myself what a curse this man has been to the Museum as a Trustee!"[6]

Personal life[edit]

On 3 September 1804 Hamilton was married to Julia Udny, a daughter of Selina Shore Clevland (a daughter of John Clevland MP) and John Udny, the British Consul at Venice and Leghorn. Her brother was Lt.-Col. John Robert Fullerton Udny of Udny Castle, Aberdeen. Together, they were the parents of:[8]

Hamilton died in London on 11 July 1859.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Charles Roger Dod (1855). Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland. S. Low, Marston & Company. p. 477.
  2. ^ Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Hamilton, William (d.1724)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  3. ^ 'Waltham Holy Cross: Introduction and manors', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5, ed. W R Powell (London, 1966), pp. 151–162 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol5/pp151-162 [accessed 7 September 2015].
  4. ^ "Hamilton, William (HMLN795WR)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^ "Bicentenary of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone". www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Collections Online | William Richard Hamilton". www.britishmuseum.org. British Museum. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  7. ^ Remarks on Several Parts of Turkey, Part 1: Aegyptiaca or Some Account of the Ancient and Modern State of Egypt Obtained in the Years 1801-02, (1809)
  8. ^ a b c d e f Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1878. pp. 97–99. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Death of Distinguished Fifeshire Veteran". Dundee Courier. 7 October 1890. p. 3.
  10. ^ London Lady's Newspaper & Pictorial Times, 16 June 1860
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British Minister to the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
1822–1825 		Succeeded by
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