George Hamilton was a lumber baron and public official in Upper Canada.
Background
In 1781, George Hamilton was born at Hamwood House, in County Meath, He was the third son of Charles Hamilton (d 1818), who built Hamwood, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Crewe Chetwood of Woodbrook, Queen"s County. His family were descended from Sir James Hamilton of Finnart and had come to during the reign of James I in the Plantations of.
Career
Hamilton came to City sometime before 1807. In 1809, they set themselves up in the timber trade in Lower Canada, exporting lumber and supplying shipbuilders. As a result of a timber operator being unable to honour his contract, they became owners of a mill at Hawkesbury, Ontario associated with lumbering along the Rideau River.
During the War of 1812, George served in the militia reaching the rank of major.
In 1816, Hamilton became a Justice of the Peace and judge in the new Ottawa District Court of Upper Canada. During the 1820s, a downturn in the timber trade resulted in hard times for the Hamilton family and the business teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.
The mill at Hawkesbury grew to become one of the top producers in the country. Although Hamilton had resorted to illegal cutting on crown lands when establishing his business, he now began to lobby the government to introduce a system of licenses to control timber cutting on crown land.
A fee-based system was introduced and, at Bytown, a down payment was collected against future cutting fees which favoured the wealthier operators and discouraged speculation.
In the valley of the Gatineau River, Hamilton helped establish the so-called Gatineau Privilege, established by an order-in-council in November 1832 which limited the number of operators in the region. Despite protests, it remained in effect until 1843. Hamilton and Low had a similar arrangement in the valley of the Rouge River.
At, Hamilton married Susannah Christina "Lucy" Craigie, daughter of the Honorary
John Craigie and Susannah Coffin, daughter of John Coffin (1729-1808) of and a first cousin of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, 1st Baronet. In 1822 or 1823, while Hamilton and his family were descending the Ottawa River to Montreal, their canoe overturned in rapids and their three young children drowned.
Hamilton died of a severe cold at Hawkesbury after a trip to review militia in the 1837-1838 rebellions. He was survived by at least six children, Robert Hamilton (1822-1898), continued the family"s timber trade.
George Hamilton (1824-1856), married Julia, daughter of Judge George Stephen Benjamin Jarvis.
They were the parents of The Honorary George Wellesley Hamilton. Senator John Hamilton, President of Sir Hugh Allan"s Merchants Bank of Canada, Montreal.
Henrietta Hamilton (1830-1857), married Andrew Thomson (1829-1907), President of the Union Bank of Canada and the Railway, Light, Heat & Power Company.
Their only son, George Hamilton Thomson, married Hylda Graves Meredith, daughter of Chief Justice Sir William Collis Meredith. The Most Charles Hamilton, 1st Anglican Archbishop of Ottawa.
Francis Hamilton (b 1838), died unmarried.