Sir William Hamilton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Envoy Extraordinary to the Kingdom of Naples | |
| In office 1764–1800 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Sir James Gray |
| Succeeded by | Sir Arthur Paget |
| Member of Parliament forMidhurst | |
| In office 1761–1764 | |
| Preceded by | Sir John Peachey |
| Succeeded by | Bamber Gascoyne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1730-12-13)13 December 1730 London orPark Place, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 6 April 1803(1803-04-06) (aged 72) London, England |
| Resting place | Slebech, Wales |
| Spouses | |
| Education | Westminster School |
| Occupation |
|
Sir William Hamilton,KB,PC,FRS,FRSE (13 December 1730 – 6 April 1803) was a British diplomat, politician, antiquarian and vulcanologist who served as theEnvoy Extraordinary to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800. After sitting in theHouse of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1764, he began working as a diplomat, succeedingSir James Gray as the British ambassador to theKingdom of Naples. While in Italy, Hamilton became involved in studying local volcanoes and collecting antiquities, becoming afellow of the Royal Society and being given theCopley Medal. His second wife wasEmma Hamilton, who was famed as the mistress ofHoratio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson.
%2c_and_her_brother_William_Hamilton_(1730-1803)%2c_by_William_Hoare_of_Bath.jpg)
Hamilton was born on 13 December 1730[1] (or 12 January 1731)[2] in eitherLondon or atPark Place, Berkshire, the fourth son ofLord Archibald Hamilton (1673–1754),Governor of Jamaica, andLady Jane Hamilton (before 1704–1753), daughter ofthe 6th Earl of Abercorn (near 1661–1734). His father was the seventh son ofWilliam, Duke of Hamilton and 1st Earl of Selkirk (1634–1694), andAnne, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton (1632–1716).[3] His mother was a favourite, and possibly a mistress, of thePrince of Wales and William grew up with his sonGeorge III, who would call him his "foster brother".[3] At age nine, he went toWestminster School, where he made lifelong friends ofFrederick, 4th Earl of Bristol, andDavid, 2nd Earl of Mansfield. Hamilton used to say that he was born with an ancient name and a thousand pounds; as a younger son he would have to make his own way in life.[4] So, six weeks after his sixteenth birthday, he was commissioned into the3rd Foot Guards as an ensign.[5] He spent some time with the regiment in theNetherlands, and advanced to lieutenant in 1753. In September 1757, he was present as aide-de-camp toGeneral Henry Seymour Conway at the abortiveattack on Rochefort.[6] The following year he left the Army, after having married Catherine Barlow, the daughter of Hugh Barlow, Member of Parliament forPembroke Boroughs. The couple shared a love of music, and the marriage, which lasted until Catherine's death on 25 August 1782, was a happy one. There were no children. When Catherine's father died in 1763, she inherited his estates in Wales and these provided the Hamiltons with a steady income.[7]
In 1761, Hamilton enteredParliament as Member forMidhurst. When he heard that the ambassador to the court of Naples,Sir James Gray, was likely to be promoted to Madrid, Hamilton expressed an interest in the position, and was duly appointed in 1764.[8]
Hamilton arrived in Naples on 17 November 1764[9] with the official title of Envoy Extraordinary to theKingdom of the Two Sicilies and would remain as ambassador to the court ofFerdinand andMaria Carolina until 1800, although from November 1798 he was based inPalermo, the court having moved there when Naples was threatened by the French Army. As ambassador, Hamilton was expected to send reports back to the Secretary of State every ten days or so, to promote Britain's commercial interests in Naples, and to keep open house for English travellers to Naples.[10] These official duties left him plenty of time to pursue his interests in art, antiquities, and music, as well as developing new interests in volcanoes and earthquakes. Catherine, who had never enjoyed good health, began to recover in the mild climate of Naples. Their main residence was the Palazzo Sessa, where they hosted official functions and where Hamilton housed his growing collection of paintings and antiquities; they also had a small villa on the seashore atPosillipo (later it would be called Villa Emma), a house atPortici, Villa Angelica, from where he could studyMount Vesuvius, and a house atCaserta near theRoyal Palace.
Hamilton began collecting Greek vases and other antiquities as soon as he arrived in Naples, obtaining them from dealers or other collectors, or even opening tombs himself.[11][12] In 1766–67 he published a volume of engravings of his collection entitledCollection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman antiquities from the cabinet of the Honble. Wm. Hamilton, His Britannick Maiesty's envoy extraordinary at the Court of Naples. The text was written byd'Hancarville with contributions byJohann Winckelmann. A further three volumes were produced in 1769–76.[13] During his first leave in 1771 Hamilton arranged the sale of his collection to theBritish Museum for £8,410.[14]Josiah Wedgwood the potter drew inspiration from the reproductions in Hamilton's volumes.[13] During this first leave, in January 1772, Hamilton became a Knight of theOrder of the Bath[15] and the following month was elected Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries.[16] In 1777, during his second leave to England, he became a member of theSociety of Dilettanti.
When Hamilton returned to England for a third period of leave, in 1783–84, he brought with him a Roman glass vase, which had once belonged to theBarberini family and which later became known as thePortland Vase. Hamilton had bought it from a dealer and sold it to theDuchess of Portland with the help of his niece Mary Hamilton, who was the duchess's literary friend. The cameo work on the vase again served as inspiration to Josiah Wedgwood, this time for hisjasperware. The vase was eventually bought by the British Museum.[17] He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1792.[18]
In 1798, as Hamilton was about to leave Naples, he packed up his art collection and a second vase collection and sent them back to England. A small part of the second vase collection went down withHMS Colossus off the Scilly Isles.[19] The surviving part of the second collection was catalogued for sale at auction atChristie's when at the eleventh hourThomas Hope stepped in and purchased the collection of mostly South Italian vases.
Soon after Hamilton arrived in Naples, Mount Vesuvius began to show signs of activity and in the summer of 1766 he sent an account of an eruption, together with drawings and samples of salts and sulphurs, to theRoyal Society in London. On the strength of this paper he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the autumn of 1767 there was an even greater eruption and again Hamilton sent a report to the Royal Society. The two papers were published as an article in the Society's journalPhilosophical Transactions.[20][21]
The Royal Society awarded him theCopley Medal in 1770 for his paper, "An Account of a Journey toMount Etna".[22] In 1772 he published his writings on both volcanoes in a volume calledObservations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and other volcanos. This was followed in 1776 by a collection of his letters on volcanoes, entitledCampi Phlegraei (Flaming fields, the name given by the Ancients to the area around Naples). The volume was illustrated byPietro Fabris. Hamilton subsequently hired a priest, PadreAntonio Piaggio, who lived near the western slopes of Vesuvius to keep a regular diary of notes and sketches of the volcano. Piaggio's diaries span the period 1779-1795.[23] Hamilton was also interested in earthquakes. He visitedCalabria andMessina after the earthquake of 1783 and wrote a paper for the Royal Society.[24]
The Hamiltons gave musical entertainments in which they played (William the violin, and Catherine the harpsichord or pianoforte) with some of their servants or professional musicians.[25] During their tour of Italy in 1770, the youngMozart and his father were introduced to the Hamiltons. Catherine played the harpsichord for Mozart, and he said he found her performance "uncommonly moving".[26] Another musical visitor was the music historianCharles Burney, who stayed at Villa Angelica at Portici and was helped by Hamilton with his research. Burney thought that Catherine Hamilton was the best harpsichord player in Naples.[27] When the young Irish singerMichael Kelly arrived in Naples, he was introduced to the Court by Hamilton.[28] The young Irish composerThomas Carter also stayed with him around 1788.[29]
Catherine Hamilton died in August 1782; her body was returned to Britain for burial in the Barlow vault at the oldSlebech parish church. Hamilton wrote to his niece Mary: "I must for ever feel the loss of the most amiable the most gentle and virtuous companion that ever man was blessed with".[30]
Hamilton discovered evidence of a fertility cult involving phallus worship in the province ofAbruzzi. He reported his findings to theSociety of Dilettanti, of which he was a member. In 1783 he published some of those findings in a slim volume,The Worship of Priapus: An account of the fete of St. Cosmo and Damiano celebrated at Isernia in 1780... These writings were condemned for their mixture of sexual and religious ideas.[31]
A year after his wife's death Hamilton had a third period of leave in Britain. This time he visited his estates in Wales and went on a trip to Scotland with his nephewCharles Greville, who was a younger son of theEarl of Warwick and Hamilton's sister Elizabeth. When Hamilton made a will during that visit to Britain he made Greville his heir.[32] In London, Hamilton metEmma Hart who at that time was Greville's mistress.
On his return to Naples, Hamilton was lonely. "After having lived 22 years en famille it is most terrible to live chiefly alone", he wrote to his niece.[33] Meanwhile, Greville, who wanted to search for a wealthy wife, was hatching a plan to persuade his uncle to take Emma off his hands.[34] Somewhat reluctantly Hamilton agreed to the plan and Emma arrived in Naples on her 21st birthday, 26 April 1786. With her was her mother, who went by the name of Mrs Cadogan, and who would live with Emma and Hamilton until she died in 1810. The women were installed in an apartment in the Palazzo Sessa, and provided with a carriage and wardrobes. Tutors were hired to give Emma lessons in Italian and singing. It was some months though before Emma accepted the fact that Greville was not going to join her in Naples or send for her to go back to England. At that point she decided to become Hamilton's mistress.[35]
Hamilton and Emma married five years later, when Hamilton obtained leave of three months in Britain. As he held a public position he had to ask the King's permission. The ceremony was a quiet one inSt Marylebone Parish Church, taking place on 6 September 1791, two days before the couple's return to Naples. Emma signed the register as Amy Lyons; the witnesses were Hamilton's cousin theMarquess of Abercorn andLouis Dutens, who had been chaplain at Turin.[36] The following day Hamilton was sworn of thePrivy Council in 1791.[37]
For most of Hamilton's time as ambassador, Naples had been a political backwater. But when France declared war on Britain in 1793 events in Naples became more turbulent, and Hamilton's role became more important, just as his health was declining.Nelson's fleet arrived in the Bay of Naples after defeating the French Fleet at theBattle of the Nile in August 1798 and Nelson was a guest of the Hamiltons. At the end of the year the King and Queen abandoned Naples as the French Army advanced and fled toPalermo in Sicily. The Hamiltons went with them.[38]
In the summer of 1799 Naples was recaptured from the French and savage reprisals were enacted against those who had supported theParthenopean Republic. Hamilton, together with the king and queen, and Nelson, remained in Palermo, except for a visit to the Bay of Naples inFoudroyant when he briefly went ashore. Hamilton was anxious to return to Britain. At the beginning of 1800Sir Arthur Paget was sent out to replace him and the Hamiltons and Nelson returned overland to England. By this time Emma and Nelson were lovers.[39] They landed at Great Yarmouth on 31 October 1800. The relationship between Hamilton, Emma and Nelson was already causing a scandal and Hamilton was caricatured in cartoons byJames Gillray.
Hamilton would live in retirement for another two and a half years, atMerton with Emma, Nelson, and Mrs Cadogan, and in a house he leased inPiccadilly. He spent his time fishing on the River Thames, visiting his estates in Wales, selling paintings and vases, trying to get money owed to him by the government for his expenses in Naples, and attending his clubs, especially the Royal Society and the Dilettanti. He died on 6 April 1803 at his house in Piccadilly. He left Emma £800 a year, which included £100 a year for her mother, and small annuities for four servants in Naples. His estates in Wales, which were heavily mortgaged, were left to Greville. Nelson was left an enamel copy of a portrait of Emma byÉlisabeth Vigée le Brun.[40]
Hamilton was buried beside his first wife atSlebech.
Hamilton's life was fictionalised bySusan Sontag in her novelThe Volcano Lover: A Romance.
In the 1941 movieThat Hamilton Woman, the role of Sir William Hamilton was portrayed byAlan Mowbray.
In theDessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm in Germany there is an island in a lake atop which is a model ofMount Vesuvius.Duke Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau would stage fireworks that seemed to issue from an erupting volcano to entertain his guests. At the foot of the mountain on the island is a building intended to suggest Hamilton's villa atPosillipo.
Walton Ford'swatercolourJack on his Deathbed portrays the death of Hamilton's pet monkey in 1780.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Media related toWilliam Hamilton at Wikimedia Commons| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMidhurst 1761–1765 With:John Burgoyne | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples 1764–1800 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
