John Hamilton, 3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell

The Right Honourable
The Lord Hamilton of Dalzell
GCVO MC
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
23 June 1952 – 31 January 1990
Preceded byThe 2nd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell
Succeeded byThe 4th Baron Hamilton of Dalzell
Personal details
Born
John d'Henin Hamilton

1 May 1911
Died31 January 1990(1990-01-31) (aged 78)

John d'Henin Hamilton, 3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, GCVO, MC (1 May 1911 – 31 January 1990), was a British peer and courtier. He served with the Coldstream Guards during the Second World War, and after succeeding his uncle in the peerage in 1952, became a Lord-in-Waiting and Lord Lieutenant of Surrey.

Hamilton was the only son of Major Leslie d'Henin Hamilton and his wife Amy Ricardo. Major Hamilton was a younger son of John Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Dalzell. Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,[1] Hamilton was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards as a second lieutenant on 29 January 1931.[2] He was promoted to lieutenant on 29 January 1934.[3]

In 1935 he married Rosemary Coke and acquired Beckington Castle, Somerset. Their children included James Leslie Hamilton (1938–2006), later the fourth Baron, and Archibald Gavin ("Archie"), born at Beckington in 1941,[4] later a Conservative politician and life peer. On 12 September 1937, he became a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards reserve of officers.[5]

During the Second World War, Hamilton saw active service with his regiment's 5th Battalion, which formed part of the Guards Armoured Division, in the Battle of Normandy, and was injured there on 18 July 1944. Hamilton was awarded the Military Cross on 30 June 1945 for his service on the European front.[6] He was promoted to a substantive captaincy in the reserve of the Coldstream Guards on 1 January 1949.[7] After the end of the war, he sold his house at Beckington to H. F. Bailey, who re-established Ravenscroft School there, and moved to Snowdenham House, Bramley, near Guildford. Hamilton succeeded his uncle, Gavin Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, in his peerage in 1952. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Surrey on 16 October 1957.[8]

In the 1960s, Hamilton was President of the National Association of Probation Officers.[9] In 1961, he was with Queen Elizabeth II at Kingston on Thames as Vice Lord Lieutenant for Surrey. Lord Hamilton was appointed a Lord-in-Waiting on 17 September 1968.[10] In 1973, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. Hamilton retired as a Lord-in-Waiting on 1 July 1981,[11] and was made a KCVO the following day.[12] He retired from the Lord-Lieutenancy in 1986, and was made a GCVO in the 1987 New Year Honours.[13]

Lady Hamilton's sister Celia was the grandmother of Jack Brooksbank, who married the Queen's granddaughter Princess Eugenie in 2018.[14][15]

  1. ^ , "HAMILTON OF DALZELL", Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014, accessed 5 February 2017.
  2. ^ "No. 33685". The London Gazette. 30 January 1931. p. 675.
  3. ^ "No. 34019". The London Gazette. 30 January 1934. p. 679.
  4. ^ 'Births' column of The Times dated Friday, 2 January 1942, p. 1.
  5. ^ "No. 34435". The London Gazette. 14 September 1937. p. 5778.
  6. ^ "No. 37172". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 July 1945. p. 3592.
  7. ^ "No. 39476". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 February 1952. p. 1115.
  8. ^ "No. 41210". The London Gazette. 25 October 1957. p. 6184.
  9. ^ Hansard, House of Lords, vol. 302, col. 1190, 19 June 1969.
  10. ^ "No. 44678". The London Gazette. 17 September 1968. p. 10017.
  11. ^ "No. 48669". The London Gazette. 3 July 1981. p. 8903.
  12. ^ "No. 48681". The London Gazette. 17 July 1981. p. 9455.
  13. ^ "No. 50764". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1986. p. 3.
  14. ^ Kidd, C. (1990). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 1990. Debrett's Peerage. ISBN 9780333388471. Retrieved 25 October 2018. ....Rosemary Olive (Baroness Hamilton of Dalzell), b 1910: m 1935, 3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell. Residence – Garden Cottage, Snowdenham House, Bramley, Guildford.— Celia Dorothy, b 1919: m 1942, Stamp Godfrey Brooksbank, Capt ...
  15. ^ Harris, K. "Princess Eugenie's fiancé Jack is not a commoner - unseen photos revealed ahead of wedding". UK Daily Express. Retrieved 12 October 2018.