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.
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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.
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. In 1903 he was appointed a GCSI. In 1916 he was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry.
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.[1][2]
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.
He was also President of the Royal Statistical Society from 1910 to 1912 and from 1915 to 1916.[3]
Hamilton married Lady Maud Caroline, daughter of Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood, in 1871. They had three sons:
Hamilton died in September 1927, aged 81. His wife survived him by eleven years and died in April 1938.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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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 |
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) | ||
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Prime Minister Foreign Secretary Leader of the House of Lords |
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First Lord of the Treasury |
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Lord Chancellor |
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Lord President of the Council |
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Lord Privy Seal |
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Home Secretary |
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Secretary of State for the Colonies |
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Secretary of State for War |
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Secretary of State for India |
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First Lord of the Admiralty |
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Chancellor of the Exchequer Leader of the House of Commons |
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President of the Board of Trade |
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Chief Secretary for Ireland |
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Postmaster General |
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Lord Lieutenant of Ireland |
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Lord Chancellor of Ireland |
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Secretary for Scotland |
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Vice President of the Council |
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Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society | |
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19th century |
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20th century |
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21st century |
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General | |
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National libraries | |
Other |