Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton: A natural born Naturalist

Jonathan Smyth's Times Past column

Bailieborough man, Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton, made his name as a naturalist and teacher in Australia during the late 19th and early 20th century. Born on April 14, 1852, to Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton Snr, and Joyce Wynne Hamilton of Bailieborough; the Hamiltons emigrated to Australia in 1866 and, for a time, they made Fish River Creek, Oberon, their home and Alexander Hamilton Snr found employment as a quarantine supervisor.

Joyce started up a school in 1867 and her son who had worked as a monitor in Belfast’s Model School joined her to provide most of the ‘instruction’ imparted to the pupils. Two years later, the family moved to Meadow Flat, East Bathhurst, and Joyce again managed a school until 1870 and Alexander Jnr became a temporary assistant in St Mary’s Church of England School at South Creek. Afterwards, having completed a three-month stint at Fort Street Training School, he got to work at Guntawang where he remained for 17 years while working a second job too, as a ‘teacher and librarian’ at a local Arts school that he incidentally helped set up. Alexander’s 21st birthday was made more special when he married his sweetheart Emma Thacker, who was 18 years old. His wife must have been fond of pets or at least accommodated her husband’s interests in animals. Alexander reared pet birds, lizards, platypus, and Kangaroos and in the process became a famous naturalist. He became a member of the Linnean Society, New South Wales, and submitted a variety of papers for publication in the societies journal.

The Linnean Society (NSW), was founded in 1874, to promote ‘the cultivation and study of the science of Natural History in all its branches'. The oldest Linnean Society is based in London, England, and was founded in 1788.

Alexander and Emma had four children, the eldest of whom was Charles Greenlaw Hamilton and he too, like his father, in adulthood became an educationalist and naturalist. Jenny Mills, account in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, noted that Charles worked for the Education Department of Western Australia as an advisory teacher in art and nature study, always travelling, accompanied by the tools of his trade, ‘a sketchbook, soft pencil and penknife’ to take note of the wildlife and plants he encountered.

From childhood, the Hamiltons were encouraged to cherish nature and to respect their surrounding environment. Charles' brothers, Edgar and Harold and their sister Jocelyn were equally fascinated; Edgar kept ‘native orchids’ and built on a collection begun by his father.

In October 1887, Alexander was appointed headmaster of Mount Kembla Public School and, around this time, he began studying the ecology of the rainforest and attended lectures at the University of Sydney. A budding naturalist, he joined the council of the Linnean Society and served with the society from 1906 to 1939; and from 1915 to 1916, he served as the society’s president. Another organisation that made him president was the Australian Naturalists’ Society of New South Wales.

Amongst Alexander’s wider naturalist interests, he subscribed to a variety of environmental societies including the Gould League, an independent Australian group focussed on fostering ‘environmental education'. The then named ‘Gould League of Bird Lovers’ was founded in 1909 and named in honour of the British birdwatcher John Gould. One of the Gould League’s founders was Alexander’s son Harold who served as the society’s honorary secretary and treasurer for 17 years. On March 27, 1933, Alexander’s son Harold Wynne Hamilton died suddenly. He was survived by his wife Mrs Ellen Hamilton.

Hamilton’s father Alexander senior, died on 14 May 1903, at his stepson’s villa, ‘Quarantine Station’, Athol, according to the Daily Telegraph. He had suffered a long and painful illness and was listed as the ‘beloved husband of Mary Anne Hamilton'. From the notice it would appear that Alexander’s father had remarried.

Retirement

His retirement reported in the local paper, the New South Wales Government Gazette on November 21, 1919, noted, Mr Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton, senior lecturer at Teacher’s College, as having retired from the public service.

Hamilton died on October 21,1942, at his home, Tanandra, 16 Hercules Street, Chatswood. He was in his 90th year. The New South Wales Government Gazette, dated October 30, 1942, named Edgar Alexander Hamilton and Reginald Charles Pluck as executors of Hamilton’s estate, to whom outstanding claims against the deceased estate should be addressed. For further reading, there is an interesting essay on Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton by L.A. Gilbert, which was published in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, in 1983.

BRITISH RECRUITMENT DRIVE IN 1857

In March 1857, the British suffered a backlash in India when Indian soldiers in the British army revolted against their commanding officers. The mutiny attracted the support of the native Indian rulers and many thousands of people who threatened to wipe-out Britain’s colonial presence in India. The 1857 rising is still considered by many to have been the greatest threat faced by British colonial power while they were rulers of the Indian subcontinent.

The November 7, 1857, edition of the New York Tablet recorded the disappointment felt at the lack of response to a recruitment drive held by the British army in Co Cavan who were hoping to enlist as many of the young men of Cootehill as possible to take up duty in India. The ‘ribbon’ sergeant, the newspaper stated, was ‘a native of the town, and most becoming in his ways’, had to depart after six weeks ‘without procuring’ a single man to join the British ranks, further adding, that the whole affair was ‘rather gloomy’ since Cavan was always considered to be ‘ultra-loyal’ and that the ‘Ashfield Blazers’ had once been of ‘a type’ more than ‘true blue'.

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