John Robinson Hamilton

John Robinson Hamilton, QC (March 5, 1808 – December 24, 1870) was a lawyer and political figure in Lower Canada and then the Province of Canada. He represented the electoral district of Bonaventure 1832 to 1834 in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. Following the creation of the Province of Canada, he again represented Bonaventure from 1841 to 1844 in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. He opposed the union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada, and supported the reform movement, which favoured responsible government.

Early life and family Hamilton was born in Quebec City, the son of Gavin Major Hamilton, a merchant, and Mary Robinson. His father died young, when Hamilton was only eleven years old. His mother later married a French-Canadian, François Pellet, which may have accounted for Hamilton's fluent bilingualism.

He studied law with Joseph-Rémi Vallières de Saint-Réal, and then Andrew Stuart and Henry Black, in Quebec City. Hamilton was called to the bar in 1830 and moved to the Gaspé to begin his practice. In 1844, he was appointed Queen's Counsel, a mark of distinction and service in the legal profession.

In 1831, he married Eliza Racey in New York city. They had four daughters and five sons. One son, Clarence Hamilton served in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec. In the Assembly, Hamilton took an independent approach, sometimes supporting the Château Clique Tories, and sometimes the Parti patriote. However, he voted against the Ninety-Two Resolutions, put forward by Louis-Joseph Papineau and the Parti patriote, which called on the British government to make significant reforms to the provincial government.

Hamilton stood for election in the first general election in the new province, in 1841. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

Hamilton was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1844, and in subsequent elections of 1848 and 1851. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Legislative Council in 1858.

Death

He died at New Carlisle in 1870 at the age of 62, and is buried at St Andrew's Anglican church, New Carlisle.