Sir William Hamilton (That Hamilton Man!)
My last post for the EHFA was on Emma Hamilton , so it seems apropos that we discuss one of her other two halves, the man who is not often discussed, Sir William Hamilton. Sir William Hamilton
January 12 1731-April 6 1803
Now, 200 years after he has died, he is more famous for whom he was married to, than his achievements in life. For 36 years he was the British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples. From 1764 to 1800. Turbulent times that saw the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon. Hamilton was also an antiquarian, an archaeologist and vulcanologist. (DWW-being Ambassador in Naples provided was access to Vesuvius and Etna.) He was a noted collector and became a member of the Royal Society. Born the fourth son of Lord Archibald Hamilton, who was Governor of Jamica, his mother was the daughter of the sixth Earl of Aberdeen. She was a mistress of the son of George II, George the Prince of Wales, who was the father of George III. George III called Sir William his foster brother. ...