Sir Abdullah Charles Edward Archibald Watkin Hamilton, 5th and 3rd Baronet (10 December 1876 – 18 March 1939)[1]was a distinguished British convert to Islam.[2][3][4]
He was the son of Sir Edward Archibald Hamilton, 4th Baronet of Trebishun, Breconshire and 2nd Baronet of Marlborough House, Hampshire (1843–1915) and his wife Mary Elizabeth Gill.[1] He gained both baronetcies upon the death of his father in 1915.[5][2] He was also a descendant of William Hamilton, one of the five Kentish Petitioners of 1701[6][2][7], great-grandson of Admiral Sir Edward Joseph Hamilton, 1st Baronet Hamilton of Marlborough House,[8] direct descendant of the Duke of Abercorn and also Lord Hamilton who married Princess Mary Stewart of Scotland, daughter of James II of Scotland.[2] He served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Defence Corps and was at one time President of the Selsey (Sussex) Conservative Association.
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He was married three times and twice divorced.
Sir Archibald married Olga Mary Adelaid FitzGeorge, daughter of Rear-Admiral Sir Adolphus FitzGeorge KCVO and Sophia Jane Holden, granddaughter of the Duke of Cambridge and first cousin to Queen Victoria on 18 December 1897 in London, England.[9] The marriage resulted in two children, George Edward Archibald Augustus FitzGeorge-Hamilton (30 December 1898 – 18 May 1918) whose baptism was attended by Queen Mary and King George V who along with the Duke of Cambridge were pledged to be his godparents.[10]. He was killed in action in May 1918.[10] They had one unnamed daughter (b. 5 May 1902 - d. 5 May 1902). He and Olga Mary Adelaide FitzGeorge divorced in 1902.[1]
Algorta Marjory Blanch Childe, the daughter of George Child and Sir Archibald were married in November 1906 and divorced in 1908. She was found guilty of jewellery theft and was sentenced to six months in Holloway Prison.[11][12]
Sir Archibald and the daughter of William Austen, Lilian Maud Austen (b. before 1912 - d. 1964) were married in 1927. Lady Hamilton also converted to Islam, taking the name Miriam.[13]
Sir Archibald embraced Islam in 1924.[2]
"Since arriving at an age of discretion, the beauty and the simple purity of Islam have always appealed to me. I could never, though born and brought up as a Christian, believe in the dogmatic aspect of the Church, and have always placed reason and commonsense above blind faith. As the time progressed, I wished to be at peace with my Creator, and I found that both the Church of Rome and the Church of England were of no real use to me. In becoming a Muslim I have merely obeyed the dictates of my conscience, and have since felt a better and a truer man. There is no religion that is so maligned by the ignorant and the biased as is Islam; yet if people only knew, it is the religion of strong for the weak, the rich for the poor. Humanity is divided into three classes. First, those on whom God has, out of His bounty, bestowed possessions and wealth; secondly, those who have to work to earn their living; and lastly, the great army of the unemployed, or those who have fallen by the wayside through no fault of their own."
Sir Abdullah Archibald Hamilton died on 18 March 1939 at the age of 62. He is buried at the Brookwood Cemetery alongside his good friend, al-Hajj Shaikh Rahmatullah Headley al-Farooq, Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley.[2]
| Baronetage of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edward Archibald Hamilton |
Baronet (of Trebinshun) 1915–1939 |
Succeeded by Thomas Sydney Percival Hamilton |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Edward Archibald Hamilton |
Baronet (of Marlborough House) 1915–1939 |
Succeeded by Thomas Sydney Percival Hamilton |
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