Gavin Hamilton

Who was Gavin Hamilton?

Gavin George Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell KT, CVO, MC, was a Scottish Liberal politician.

Hamilton was the eldest surviving son of John Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, and his wife Lady Emily Eleanor, daughter of Alexander Leslie-Melville, 10th Earl of Leven. He succeeded his father in the barony in 1900 and took his seat on the Liberal benches in the House of Lords. From 1905 to 1911 he served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and later H. H. Asquith as a Lord-in-Waiting. Hamilton was also a Major in the Scots Guards.

He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Lanarkshire in September 1901, and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Lanarkshire between 1938 and 1952. In 1909 he was made a Knight of the Thistle.

Lord Hamilton of Dalzell married Sybil Mary, daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Marshall, in 1912. She died in 1933. Hamilton survived her by nineteen years and died in June 1952, aged 79. He was succeeded in the barony by his nephew John.