Lord Claud Hamilton (1843–1925)
Rt. Hon. Lord Claud John Hamilton was a British aristocrat, Member of Parliament, and a noted railway director during the Victorian era.
Early life
Lord Claud was born at the Priory in Stanmore, Middlesex, the second son of James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn and his wife Lady Louisa Jane Russell, daughter of 6th Duke of Bedford.He was educated at Harrow School.
Careers
Before turning to political life, Hamilton served in the British Army. He purchased a commission as Ensign & Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards on 27 May 1862, buying his promotion to Lieutenant & Captain on 8 August 1865, before retiring by sale of his commission on 8 June 1867.On 10 July 1867 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the part-time Prince of Wales's Own Donegal Militia in succession to his uncle, Lord Claud Hamilton (1813–1884). He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the battalion on 17 January 1891, in succession to his elder brother James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn.
In 1865, he became Conservative MP for Londonderry City until 1868 when he was appointed a Lord of the Treasury in Benjamin Disraeli's first ministry. In 1869, he became MP for King's Lynn until 1880, for Liverpool from 1880 to 1885, for Liverpool West Derby from 1885 until he resignation from the British [House of Commons|resigned his seat] in 1888, and for Kensington South from January 1910 [United Kingdom general election|January 1910] to 1918.
Lord Claud had been an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria from 1887 to 1897 and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1917.
Great Eastern Railway
However his principal contribution to British public life was as a director of the Great Eastern Railway from 1872, becoming vice-chairman in 1874, and chairman in 1893, continuing as chairman until 1922. The GER operated from London's Liverpool Street station to major eastern towns and cities including Cambridge, Norwich, Ipswich, Chelmsford, and Colchester. Hamilton travelled the network extensively. "He devoted the main energies of his life to the company, constantly travelling over the system, observing its conduct and operation". The shares of the company rose from 76, shortly after he became a director, to par in 1896, and the dividend to 6% in 1901.In 1900, the Great Eastern Railway named the first of its new class of 4-4-0 express passenger locomotives after its chairman, and the whole class came to be known as the "Claud Hamilton" type.
Personal life
On 20 July 1878, Lord Claud married Carolina Chandos-Pole, a daughter of Edward Sacheverell Chandos-Pole and Lady Anna Caroline Stanhope. Together, they had two children:- Gilbert Claud Hamilton, who fought in the Second Boer War; he married Enid Awa Elgar, daughter of Charles Elgar of Fernside, New Zealand, in 1911. After her death in 1916, he married Mary Blair, a daughter of Joseph Allan Blair of New York City, in 1916.
- Ida Hamilton, who married Hugh Duncombe Flower in 1909. They divorced in 1923.