Sir Archibald Hamilton, 5th Baronet
Sir Charles Edward Archibald Watkin Hamilton,[1][2] 5th and 3rd Baronet (10 December 1876 – 18 March 1939), known from 1923 as Sir Abdullah Hamilton, was a British aristocrat and convert to Islam.[3][4][5]
He was the son of Sir Edward Archibald Hamilton, 4th Baronet of Trebishun, Breconshire and 2nd Baronet of Marlborough House, Hampshire (1843–1915) and his wife Mary Elizabeth Gill. He inherited both baronetcies upon the death of his father in 1915.[3] He was also a descendant of William Hamilton, one of the five Kentish Petitioners of 1701,[3][6][7] great-grandson of Admiral Sir Edward Joseph Hamilton, 1st Baronet Hamilton of Marlborough House, direct descendant of the Duke of Abercorn and also Lord Hamilton who married Princess Mary Stewart of Scotland, daughter of James II of Scotland.[3] He served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Defence Corps and was at one time President of the Selsey (Sussex) Conservative Association, and also later a member of Sir Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists for a brief period during the 1930s.[8][9]
Marriages and children
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He was married three times and twice divorced.
Olga FitzGeorge
editSir Archibald married Olga Mary Adelaide FitzGeorge, daughter of Rear-Admiral Sir Adolphus FitzGeorge KCVO and Sophia Jane Holden, granddaughter of the Duke of Cambridge and first cousin to Queen Victoria on 18 December 1897 in London.[10] The marriage resulted in two children, George Edward Archibald Augustus FitzGeorge Hamilton (30 December 1898 – 18 May 1918) whose baptism was attended by Queen Mary and King George V who along with the Duke of Cambridge were pledged to be his godparents.[11] He was killed in action in May 1918.[11] They had one unnamed daughter (b. 5 May 1902 – d. 5 May 1902). They divorced in 1902.
Algorta Child
editIn November 1906, he married secondly Algorta Marjory Blanche Child, the daughter of George Child, of Widford, Hertfordshire,[12] but she divorced him in 1915.[13]
Lilian Austen
editIn 1927, Sir Archibald married Lilian Maud (b. 1880 – d. 1964), daughter of William Austen, of Sydenham, Kent.[12] Lady Hamilton also converted to Islam, taking the name Miriam.[14]
Conversion to Islam
editSir Archibald converted to Islam on 20 December 1923.[2] He noted that "...the beauty and the simple purity of Islam have always appealed to me. I could never, though born and brought up as a Christian, believe in the dogmatic aspect of the Church... I found that both the Church of Rome and the Church of England were of no real use to me" and that having converted to Islam he felt "a better and truer man".[4]
Death
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He died on 18 March 1939 at the age of 62, and is buried at the Brookwood Cemetery alongside Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley, they having been "great friends in life" and "close comrades-in-arms in the cause of Islam".[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Islam- The Final Choice, Bazr Azimabadi, Adam Publishers and Distributors, 2006, p. 52
- ^ a b The Islamic Review, vol. 12, Khwajah Kamal al-Din, 1924, p. 41
- ^ a b c d e Some converts from 'The Islamic Review', Woking
- ^ a b Articles Archived 16 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Conversion: Islam, the growing religion". Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
- ^ Noble, Mark and Granger, James. A Biographical History of England, from the Revolution to the End of George I's Reign. 1806. pp. 211–213.
- ^ Polhill Family History Page Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Nostalgia: Selsey's Muslim baronet - Bognor Regis Observer". Archived from the original on 13 November 2017.
- ^ Blackshirts on-Sea: A Pictorial History of the Mosley Summer Camps 1933–1939 J.A. Booker (Brockingday Publications 1999)
- ^ GeneAll.net – Olga Mary Adelaide Fitzgeorge
- ^ a b Re: Remembering the Noble War Dead Archived 22 August 2011 at archive.today
- ^ a b Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1741
- ^ "Divorce Court File: 6085. Appellant: Blanche Marjorie Algorta Hamilton. Respondent:... | The National Archives".
- ^ Woking Muslim Mission: Some of Woking's converts to Islam