John Hamilton

John Fane Charles Hamilton (28 September 1820 – 29 April 1864) was a British naval officer, after whom the city of Hamilton, New Zealand, is named. A statue of him stood in the centre of Hamilton from 2013 to 2020.

Biography

Early life Hamilton was born in 1820 in Hildersham, Cambridgeshire, England, where he was christened on 15 July 1821. His parents were Colonel John Potter Hamilton (es) (1778–1873) and Charlotte Hamilton (nee Fane) (1787–1869, a daughter of Oxfordshire farmer and Tory MP John Fane), who married on 28 December 1813. Rear-Admiral Francis Fane (1778–1844) was his uncle.

Naval career Hamilton joined the Royal Navy on 28 August 1835,

Hamilton was again promoted to Captain on 26 February 1858. Hamilton married Laura Parry (1831–1918) in Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. Their children included:

Laura Maria Hamilton (1856–?), christened at St Peter in Kent, England, on 14 September 1856; John Fane Charles Hamilton (1859–1921), born in Belmont, Hampshire on 14 August 1859. He was a Lieutenant Colonel. On 3 June 1890 John married Gertrude Catherine Mary Angela Stuart (1870–1919), eldest daughter of John Stuart, D.L. J.P. of Ballechin, Co. Perth. He served in the Nile Expedition 1884–85, with 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment; retired pay, 1886; Major 3rd and 4th Battalion (Militia) Lancashire Fusiliers, 1894–1898; Hon Lieut-Colonel, 1898; J.P. (1894) Hampshire; C.A. Isle of Wight Club; Naval and Military. According to the England and Wales Census of 1911, 56-year-old John was living in the Isle of Wight. His address was Spencer Lodge, Spencer-road, Ryde, Isle of Wight. Gertrude died in October 1919. John died on 20 November 1921 and was buried with his mother and Gertrude in Ryde Old Cemetery (Section N Plot 1965a); and Arthur C Hamilton (1862–?), born in Ryde, Isle of Wight, in 1862.

Hamilton's cousin Robert Thomas Francis Hamilton (1835–1864) was killed during the same battle; It was produced by Margriet Windhausen and stood in Civic Square, Hamilton. Local Māori elder Taitimu Maipi, who had vandalised the statue in 2018, has called for the city to be renamed Kirikiriroa.