551 Edward Hamilton

Constituency : Salisbury  1865-9

Edward  replaced  Edward  Buckley  at  Salisbury.

Edward  was  a  vicar's  son  from  Essex. His  brother  was  Bishop  of  Salisbury.

Edward  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge. He  qualified  as  a  barrister  but  never  practised. Instead  he  bought  a  cattle  and  sheep  station  in  New  South  Wales  in  1839  with  the  intention  of making  a  fortune  and  returning  to  England  as  a  gentleman  of  leisure. He  had  two  spells  on  the New  South  Wales  Legislative  Council    and  was  Provost  of  the  University  of  Sydney  from  1851  to 1854. In  1855  he  sold  up  and  returned  to  England. He  was  appointed  chair  of  the  Australian Agricultural  Company  in  1857  and  the  Bank  of  Australasia.

Edward's  most  notable  Parliamentary  contribution  was  a  question  about  the  British  North  America Bill  in  1867  which  led  to  a  clarifying  amendment  that  it  did  not  confer  female  suffrage.

In  August  1869  Edward  resigned  his  seat.

He  died  in  1894  aged  88.