Atkins Hamerton

Atkins Hamerton (1804 – 5 July 1857) was a British soldier and diplomat who served as British consul in Zanzibar from 1841 to 1857. He is known for his role in the initially unsuccessful British attempt to end the Arab slave trade between Zanzibar and the Persian Gulf region.

Childhood and education Hamerton was born in Donnycarney, County Dublin, Ireland in 1804, the son of Edward Hamerton, clerk of ships' entries in Dublin, and his wife. He was educated at St Thomas's Church, Dublin, by the curate-assistant, the Rev. John Fea. having arrived in Bombay in 1825 and risen through the ranks. In 1840, he was tasked with visiting the oasis city of Al-Buraimi in Oman to give his advice on strengthening its defences, being the first visitor from Europe to see the city and only the second to traverse the northern parts of Oman. that led to his also being given the role as first British consul, with instructions to spy on the French and report back on the slave trade

Moorehead offers the following portrait of Hamerton:

Arab slave trade Hamerton was a friend of Said bin Sultan, the last ruler of the Omani Empire, with the sultan giving Hamerton a building abutting the sea in the town centre as a residence, waiving the rent.

Lord Palmerston, the foreign secretary, who was deeply opposed to the trade, wrote to Hamerton, saying, "The British Government is determined at all events to put this slave trade down, and is conscious it has the means of doing so. Hamerton got on famously with Burton, less so with the more tight-lipped Speke.

Seventeen years after Hamerton's death, the body of another explorer, David Livingstone, was taken to the former consul's residence on its passage back to Britain.