William Hamilton

William Hamilton 1704-54, English poet, b. Scotland. He is best known for the poem "The Braes of Yarrow" (1724).

Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy, a treatise by J. S. Mill, in which he attacks Hamilton's epistemology and his logic, published 1865, amplified in subsequent editions.

Hamilton, William Hamilton, 2nd duke of [S] (1616–51). Scottish royalist leader in civil wars. Hamilton was educated at the University of Glasgow, created earl of Lanark in 1639, and made secretary of state for Scotland the following year. He had little influence on policy and was regarded with suspicion by English royalists on account of his links with the covenanters. In 1646 he regained the king's confidence and worked throughout 1647 for a treaty with the Scots, the Engagement, to restore the king to his throne in exchange for establishing presbyterianism in England. He played a leading part in preparing the invasion of England in 1648, led by his brother, the 1st duke, though he did not take part himself. After inheriting his brother's title in 1649, he joined the second invasion of England in 1651. ‘To go with a handful of men into England’, he wrote, seems ‘very desperate’. He was right. Wounded at Worcester, he died a few days later and was buried in the cathedral. Burnet said of him that he was franker, more passionate, more enterprising, and more religious than his brother.

Ian Gentles