General William Drummond
Hamilton
Male
Ireland
1859-05-04
Mellifont, County Louth, Ireland
1914-03-04
Rathmelton, County Donegal, Ireland


About

William D. Hamilton was the sixth of the nine children – six sons and three daughters – of the Reverend William Alfred Hamilton (1824-97), a native of Tullylish in County Down, and Henrietta Catherine Hamilton (née Cole; 1827-97). The Revered William A. Hamilton and Catherine Cole were married on 10 January 1849 in Tullyallen in County Louth. In addition to William, junior, several of their sons would go on to excel at different sports including lawn tennis, cricket and football/soccer.

William D. Hamilton married Alice Josephine Kinahan (1870-1964) on 5 August 1891 in Christ Church, Taney, County Dublin. She was from Dundrum in County Dublin. William D. and Alice Hamilton had six children together – one son and five daughters. When the Census of Ireland was taken in April 1911, William D. Hamilton, his wife and two of their daughters were living in the district of Rathmelton in County Donegal. The census return lists Hamilton’s occupation as Land Agent. He died in County Donegal in March 1914 at the age of 54.
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Slightly adapted from: https://nifootball.blogspot.com/2006/12/willoughby-william-hamilton.html

William Drummond Hamilton was a member of a prominent sporting family who played for Ireland over a period from 1877 to 1907. His cousin Horace was the first to be capped at cricket, with a career highlight of 7-15 and 4-78 against I Zingari in 1878. William D. Hamilton’s final haul of caps was a modest 14; Ireland played 36 games in that time, but Hamilton was not always available, missing the tours to North America in 1888 and 1892, for example. However, he showed enough quality in those 14 games to rank among the best batsmen of the 19th century.

William D. Hamilton was educated at Haileybury School in Hertford, where he was in the first Cricket XI in 1876 and 1877. The school yearbook described him as: “A thoroughly good left-handed bat, who always plays the game and hits well to all parts of the field; a capital point.” He subsequently went up to Queen’s College, Oxford, and in 1880 made 211 not out against University College.

In 1882, Hamilton scored 109 against Corpus Christi, and was selected for the university Cricket XI. With 53 against the Gentlemen of England under his belt, he played in the Varsity Match at Lord’s, but was so nervous that he set off for a run in the wrong direction. He made 9 and 0 for his side, which included fellow Irishmen Edward Shaw and Charles Leslie.

Returning to Dublin for the holidays, he played five games for Leinster and averaged 34. After leaving Oxford, he made 54 for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against the university at Lord’s in 1883, the year he made his debut for Ireland. Against I Zingari at the Phoenix Park he made 28 and 7 but did not play again for four years.

The Canadians visited Ireland in 1887 and, “with brilliant hitting”, Hamilton made 62 (this was the first time Ireland had made over 300 at home) and 31. He made another 62 against the Philadelphians in 1889. South Africa toured Great Britain and Ireland in 1894 on a non-first-class basis and Hamilton made a classy 68 against them – out of 153 – at Rathmines in Dublin.

Hamilton’s last game for Ireland was in 1896 when he was bowled by Dowson of I Zingari, seven runs short of a century. Wisden described Hamilton as “a fine, free left-handed hitter and a beautiful field, especially in the long field”. At his peak he stood 5’8” and weighed ten stone.



Media


Archive statistics 1881 - 1896
8
86
61


Tournament wins 1895 - Ballyshannon (Amateur)
1894 - Ballyshannon (Amateur)
1889 - Nottingham (Open)
1888 - Ilkley (Open)
1888 - Waterford (Amateur)
1887 - Waterford (Amateur)
1886 - Waterford (Amateur)
1886 - Dundrum (Amateur)


Tournaments Lansdowne LTC championships - 1896 Ballyshannon - 1895 Ballyshannon - 1894 County Dublin Championships - 1891 Fitzwilliam Club Championships - 1891 Nottingham - 1889 Leicester - 1889 Yorkshire Championships - 1889 Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament - 1889 Leamington - 1889 Staffordshire - 1889 County Dublin Championships - 1889 East of Ireland Championships - 1889 Leicester - 1888 Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament - 1888 Waterford - 1888 Buxton - 1888 Ilkley - 1888 Leamington - 1888 County Dublin Championships - 1888 Waterford - 1887 Buxton - 1887 South of Ireland Championships - 1886 Waterford - 1886 Dundrum - 1886 Irish Championships - 1885 South of Ireland Championships - 1885 West of Ireland Championships - 1885 East of Ireland Championships - 1885 Fitzwilliam Purse - 1885 Irish Championships - 1884 Fitzwilliam Purse - 1884 Oxford University Tournament - 1881

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