Private Archibald James Rowan Hamilton
Number: 14214
Company: 47th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Company, 13th Battalion, First Contingent
ENLISTMENT
Date: 2 March 1900
Place: London
Age: 22 years 6 months stated on enlistment. (Born 30 September 1877 at The Castle, Killyleagh, County Down.)
Trade or calling: Musician
Place of birth: In the Parish of Killyleagh, in or near the Town of Downpatrick, in County Down
Family: Single. Father Colonel Gawin William Rowan Hamilton, 1 Montagh Mansions, Portman Square, London. Mother Lina Mary Hamilton (nee Beaumont).
Previous military service: No
Description: Height 5' 11". Complexion fair, eyes hazel, hair light/ dark brown.
Religion: Church of England
ACTIVE SERVICE
Date to South Africa: 31 March 1900
Date home: 10 October 1900
Actions: Lindley
Service medal, clasps and other awards: Queen's South Africa Medal. Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal clasps.
DISCHARGE
Date: 29 November 1900
Place: Shorncliffe
Reason for discharge: At his own request
Intended place of residence: Killyleagh, Downpatrick, County Down
Conduct: No documents
Special qualifications: Musician
Hamilton was among the 400 men of the 13th Battalion captured by Boer forces at Lindley on 31 May 1900. He was released on 30 August with most of the other members of the battalion when the British captured Nooitgedacht.
On 4 July 1908 he married Norah Logan Phillips in St Bartholomew The Great Church, London. At the time of the 1911 Census he was living as a boarder at 34 Craven Terrace, Paddington, London, his occupation recorded as composer of music.
He served in World War 1 as a Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards. He died of wounds on 21 October 1915 and was buried in Vermelles British Cemetery, France, grave I.E.5.
According to the Battalion war diary:
Some difficulties were experienced in opening up the old communication trench back from the new barricade to our lines owing to a tangle of old wire and other debris. The men were also slow at getting to work on this with the result that dawn arrived to find the cover far from complete. The men however had just sufficient cover to enable them to continue work in a crouching position & before many hours of daylight had passed they made it all good. The sniping on to this trench was very brisk and came from 3 different directions. This resulted in some casualties including 2/Lt R. Hamilton who was shot through the jaw shortly after dawn while superintending the work. He was at once taken to the dressing station at the Chateau Vermelles, but he died about one hour after admission. He was buried in the afternoon in the British Cemetery Vermelles.
He is commemorated on the Killyleagh War Memorial and the Coleorton Cross, Leicestershire.
Midland Counties Advertiser, 4 November 1915
Images from Vermelles British Cemetery kindly provided by Mick McCann, through his British War Graves website.
This page last updated 8 September 2026.