Thomas Hamilton (1780 - 1858)

Born 21 Jun 1780 in Edinburgh, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Maria (Parker) Hamilton — married 13 Oct 1802 in St Marylebone, London, England.

Died 1 Dec 1858 at age 78 in Tyninghame, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland

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Thomas Hamilton was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

Biography

Address: 5 Chesterfield Street, London.

Education: Edinburgh University. Christ Church, Oxford.

Occupations: Politician (MP). Statesman.

Association: Royal Society.

Born 21 June 1780, Lord Binning was the only son of Charles, 8th Earl of Haddington and Lady Sophia Hope.

(Until he succeeded to the Earldom, Thomas Hamilton went by the courtesy title of Lord Binning.)

On 13 November 1802, Lord Binning married Maria Frances Parker, daughter and heir of George Parker, 4th Earl of Macclesfield. The marriage was childless.

Binning was educated at Edinburgh University (1796-1798) and at Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1801, MA 1815).

Binning was a Pittite, and later Canningite-Tory Member of Parliament (MP). He sat, successively, for the rotten borough of St Germains (1802-1806), for Cockermouth (January 1807 to April 1807), for Callington (1807-1812), for Mitchell (1814-1818), for Rochester (1818-1826), and for Yarmouth (1826-1827).[1] (Thorne, History of Parliament)

Lord Binning held office under several administrations: Commissioner for the Board of Control (i.e., senior political executive for Indian Affairs) (1809 and 1816-1822); Privy Councilor (1814); Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (1834-1835); First Lord of Admiralty (1841-1846); and Lord Privy Councilor (1846). He was also hereditary keeper of Holyrood Park (1828-1843) and captain (1803) and then (1808) lieutenant-colonel in the East Lothian Yeomanry. (Thorne, History of Parliament)

In 1827, when George Canning was prime minster, Lord Binning was elevated to the peerage as non-hereditary Baron Melros of Tyninghame. He succeed to the Earldom of Haddington in the following year.

He was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1844 and as a knight in the Order of the Thistle (KT) in 1853.

He died 9 December 1858.

Sources

• 'Hamilton, Thomas, Lord Binning (1780-1858), of Tynninghame [sic], Haddington', The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986

• Scotland, Select Births and Baptism. Thomas Hamilton, born 21 June 1780, baptized, 3 July 1780. Father, Charles Earl of Haddington. Mother, Sophia Hope

• England, Select Marriages. Bishop's Transcripts, Saint Mary-St Marylebone Road, St Marylebone, London, England. Thomas Hamilton to Maria Parker, marriage date 13 Nov 1802

• Index of Wills and Administrations. National Probate Calendar, England and Wales. Probate Registry, London. The Right Honorable Thomas Hamilton. Death date, 1 Dec 1858 [sic]. Death Place, Haddington. Probate date, 29 June 1859.

• Death notice, Glasgow Herald, Wednesday, 8 December 1858, page 7, column 4. Died "on Wednesday" at "his seat of Tyninghame, in East Lothian".

• The Peerage.com http://www.thepeerage.com/p2739.htm#i27381

• ‘Hamilton, Thomas, ninth earl of Haddington (1780–1858)’, ODNB.

• ‘Subscribers ... Lord Binning’, in [W. Otter (ed.)], Life and Remains of the Rev. Edward Daniel Clarke (1824), p. v.

• ‘Subscribers ... Lord Binning’, in W. Billington, A Series of Facts ... on ... Raising Young Plantations of Oaks (1825), n.p.

• London Literary Gazette (1827), p. 703.

• W. Fraser, Memorials of the Earls of Haddington 2 vols (1889).

• Royal Society, Bulloch’s Roll: www.royalsoc.ac.uk. [accessed13 December 2010]

Acknowledgments

Thanks to John Hunter for starting this profile.

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