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Chapter 5 James Hamilton - Local Architect |
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James Hamilton was one of the most prominent local architects involved on the development of Weymouth’s Georgian seafront - a heritage that is now recognised as one of the architectural treasures of England. Hamilton was born in 1748 and died in January 1829, flourishing professionally at Weymouth during the period around 1785 to 1816. Little has been discovered of his family background, but he may have been a descendant of the "Johannes Hamiltonus Scoto-Britannicus" who signed a fine monument to Robert Napier (died 1700) at Puncknowle in Dorset. We do know that he married twice and from his first marriage he had a son, John, who according to family tradition was a sculptor and executed a monument to Princess Sophia of Gloucester in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. Hamilton’s first wife must have died because on the 16th June 1814 the register of St. Anne’s Church, Radipole records that a James Hamilton, widower, of Melcome Regis married Ann Croad, a spinster also of Melcome. Ann was the daughter of Caleb and Mary Croad and had been baptised at Preston on February 23rd 1785, thus making her 29 at the time of her marriage whilst James was 68. They went on to have five children who were all baptised in St. Mary’s Church in Melcome Regis. Henrietta was the first, born on 10th June 1818, then Ann Augusta on November 10th 1819, followed by Edwin John on March 31st 1824 and William John on September 29th 1824. The last was Edwin Charles on January 18th 1828 - when James was 80 years of age. For the first four children Hamilton was described as an architect, but by the time Edwin Charles came along his occupation was given as a shopkeeper. We do not know where Hamilton was born or where he received his early education, or whether he studied architecture in a formal setting. Almost certainly he was trained in a variety of building crafts before setting up as an independent architect. The title of "architect" did not evolve until the 1750’s and it was common for practitioners to emerge from a whole range of backgrounds. In 1784 he designed and erected an obelisk to the memory of James Frampton at Moreton. He probably worked for a time in the stone quarries on Portland because the architect William Tyler RA, who designed Bridport Town Hall, (built 1785-86) recorded that during its building he employed a James Hamilton of Melcome Regis, who was a "Portland stone mason". Hamilton would have been 37 years old at that time. Some time after 1787 a Joshua Carter of Bridport "......began to rebuild his father’s house employing a James Hamilton, architect, of Weymouth, a contractor in Portland Stone. In 1795 Hamilton was responsible for rebuilding the south-east wall of the Cobb at Lyme Regis. In Hamilton’s time most building was speculative - and most craftsmen and labourers preferred to work freelance. An architect would employ a Master Builder who would then be responsible for gathering together the required tradesmen. Perhaps that is how Hamilton gained his basic building experience before venturing into architecture. Whatever Hamilton’s beginnings, his architectural practice certainly flourished in the second half of the eighteenth century as he took advantage of the rapid building expansion occurring in Weymouth. His progress may have been helped because he was a long standing member of the All Souls Masonic Lodge at Frederick Place. |
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We know he was involved in 1789 in the building of the four houses adjacent to Gloucester Lodge known as Gloucester Row Nos. 1-4. This was the year that saw King George III visit Weymouth for the first time and we know that during July he received the Bath surveyor and architect Charles Harcourt Masters who brought with him parts of his scale wooden model of Bath. It is almost certain that James Hamilton was also presented to King George III during the 1890’s for consultations about his improvements to the little Theatre Royal. Again, during the period of 1801 to 1804, when King George’s mental health was in question, Hamilton probably had dealings with him, because the Council records say that on the 8th October 1804 …. "His Majesty having directed Mr. James Hamilton to apply to the Corporation for the grant of a slip of ground in front of three houses His Majesty lately bought in Gloucester Row adjoining the King’s House ........it was resolved that the Corporation, feeling themselves happy to have an opportunity to accommodate His Majesty will grant the said ground for the same term as is now subsisting on the land whereon the King’s House is built under a nominal yearly rent of sixpence. | ||
| The first
time that Hamilton is mentioned in the Weymouth
Corporation records was in 1797, when Messrs Sumervall
and Hamilton undertook the repair of the inner
and outer piers of the harbour. Hamilton must also have
been respected by the ordinary churchgoers of Weymouth
because in 1802 he, together with a Mr Welsford,
on behalf of the congregation of the Protestant
Dissenters in the town, applied to the
Corporation "....for a piece of land to be taken out
of the backwater near the Dissenting Chapel, to enable
then to enlarge the same". The corporation granted a
lease for 500 years at a shilling per acre. We also know that he was the architect for the impressive Royal Crescent on the seafront, built around 1805. It is possible, but not certain, that he was responsible for both Gloucester Row Nos. 7 to 14 in 1890 and Johnstone Row from 1811 to 1815. He certainly provided the designs for some of Weymouth’s most prominent and well loved monuments - the White Horse at Osmington and the King’s Statue on the Esplanade. |
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After 1805 when the King stopped coming to visit Weymouth because of his increasing illness, the grateful citizens of Weymouth commissioned Hamilton to design an image of the King on his horse. In 1808 a copy of Hamilton's design was carved into the white chalk downs above the village of Osmington - nowadays it is known as The White Horse. The Dorchester and Sherborne Journal of October 7th 1808 noted that…. "It is worthy of remarking that an equestrian figure of his Majesty mounted on his favourite grey charger has lately been formed in chalk, on Osmington hills, the property of Mr. Wood of the same place, opposite this bay. Although its length is 280 and its height 320 feet yet the likeness of the King is well preserved and the symmetry of the horse is so complete as to do credit to Mr. Hamilton of this town, for its execution. It forms a nouvelle and pleasing object to the pedestrians on the esplanade, but more especially to those who are fond of water excursions, as from the bay its view is more complete. It has been carried into effect under the direction of Mr. Wood, bookseller, at the particular request and sole expense of John Rainier, esq., brother to the late Admiral of that name, and is intended as a lasting token of loyalty and affection to the best of sovereigns". | ||
Maureen Weinstock recorded in The Dorset Year Book of 1970-71 that it was in 1802 that a Mr. John Herbert Browne, a member of the Town Council, wrote that "…a proposal has been made and acceded to by my friends in Weymouth that some publick mark to perpetuate the remembrance of the honour and advantage which the King has conferred on the place and to erect a Statue …. And they have put the management of it to my direction which I most readily undertake ….. we should have His Majesty's approbation…..The Statue be made of Coade and Sealy composition (stoneware) at Lambeth as large as life and to be placed at the entrance to the town with an inscription under, expressing it to be a token of Loyalty and a Testimony of gratitude for the honour and advantage delivered in this place of his Majesty. I will bring plans when I come to town in February". This letter was probably sent to a Robert Brawn since an answer from him dated December 29th speaks of laying a letter before His Majesty who "thought the Coronation robes was the most proper dress". He asked that a finished design should be sent. "Mr. Hamilton left one with me ….I thought it best to take no further notice until I hear from you again". Permission was given by the King and on the 19th May 1803 John Sealy went to the Palace and spent some three quarters of an hour with the King, when "we had ye opportunity of attaining a likeness wch could be expected". Thus Weymouth's King George III Statue is modelled from real life. Sealy's bill shows that the drawing submitted for royal approval was made in February at a cost of £2 2s.; a drawing for a pedestal £3 13s. 6d. and for making a design and elevation of a building for a guard house £6 16s. 6d. Coade and Sealy’s Ornamental Stone Manufactory at Lambeth was owned by old Mrs. Coade, who held the secrets of how the Coade stoneware was manufactured. By the early 1800's much of the modelling work was being carried out by her cousin John Sealy. The Coade stone used for modelling statues was in fact a ceramic, which is fired clay. The secret of the Coade stoneware is believed to have been that the clay had been pre-fired and this limited the amount of shrinkage that occurred during the final model firing. |
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In October of
1803 the statute "including Lion and Unicorn"
was modelled at a cost of £210 according to an agreement
of the previous January. It was shipped to Weymouth on
board The Lovell and Mr. Browne found that he had
to pay an inflated bill because of various false starts -
designs having been abandoned for the King atop a
Waterworks and also on the front of a rusticated Guard
House. While Mr. Brown dithered as to where his statue of
the King should be mounted the King's health deteriorated
and he paid his last visit to Weymouth in 1805. Thus the
immediate reason for erecting the King's statue vanished. It was not until October 1809 that the statue was donated to a committee and public subscriptions were invited to pay for its subsequent erection as part of the Jubilee celebration of George III, who, despite his ill health, had ruled for fifty years. |
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| Much thought
had been given to a suitable plinth and inscriptions for
the statute. Coade and Sealy's estimated cost for
Hamilton's plan appears to have been £269 19s. 6d. -
more in fact than the statue itself. Eventually all was
finished and in October 1810 an unveiling ceremony of
great splendour was performed by HRH The Prince
of Wales, the Duke of Kent, Princess Mary and Princess
Amelia. Its final location was nearly in the
centre of the Esplanade. The committee had engaged James Hamilton to design the tall plinth on which the King statue stands, flanked by the lion and unicorn, life sized and couchant. One of the inscriptions on the statue states:- The grateful
Inhabitants |
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| The statue is
formally described as being a Modelling Statue of His
Majesty in his royal robes decorated with the Order
of the Garter - an antique Table supported with
Lyons legs behind him bearing the Crown on his
right and books of the Constitution of
England on his left. Against the table is a very
bold Cornucopia with the Arms of Great Britain
and Ireland. In His Majesty’s right hand,
the Sceptre, at his left, the Sword. The whole extent
being about 14 feet by 19 feet 3 inches high. The statue
was not painted in its present bright colours until
1949.The Jubilee celebrations began at Belfield Lodge, the home of Charles Buxton.
The house - at that time the finest in Weymouth - was
surrounded by rolling farm lands that led down to the
sheltered waters of the Portland Roads. It had been
visited several times by George III during his summer
sojourns in Weymouth. The Sherborne and Dorchester
Journal noted that when the Jubilee celebrations began
"Belfield Lodge, residence of Charles Buxton, Esq.,
was on Tuesday evening 24th a scene of
festivity and gaiety; where a ball and supper was given
by Mrs Buxton to Lords Eardley,
Cavan, Hinton and Clinton, Colonel Cooper, Baron and
Baroness Robeck, and a large company of
fashionables. The dancing was kept up with great spirit
to an early hour to hail the happy morn's approach. Proud
was the day. Acclamations resounded to the skies and the
glittering tear of rapture hung on the cheek like the
silver dew reflected by the transparent horizon". At 7 o'clock a gun was fired as a signal to launch a new Post Office packet steamer. There was a great deal of marine activity and flags were displayed opposite the Customs House, at Harvey's Library and on all the ships in the harbour. At 11 o'clock Princess Mary and the Duke of Cambridge attended divine service preceded by the Mayor and Corporation. The old St. Mary's Church was "uncommonly crowded". After the service a grand procession formed up led by a party of Light Dragoons, the Somerset militia, with trumpets sounding, various Masonic lodges in full regalia, the brethren marching two by two, three officials bearing silver goblets of corn, wine and oil, others supporting the Masonic Grand Master. Then came the Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors and different Friendly Societies with their flags and drums. From the church the procession arrived at the place where the carriages of the nobility were drawn up by a carpeted platform for the Royal Visitors. Mary laid the foundation stone for the statue "with great solemnity". Corn, wine and oil were sprinkled and the inscription handed over to the mason. John Browne, as Acting Grand Master, made a speech which included the words "may the bountiful hand of heaven supply this town with the abundance of corn, oil, and wine and all other conveniences of life". The Corporation then returned to the Guildhall and the Masonic Lodges to the King's Head and Red Lion where they dined together. |
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| James Hamilton
also designed the Parish Church of St. Mary,
Melcome Regis, which was erected between
1815-17. It replaced an earlier Parish Church built in
1605 on the same site in St. Mary Street. A competition
for a design was announced in the Salisbury Journal on 5th
Dec 1814; tenders for the building were invited on 3rd
July 1815 and the Church was opened on 23rd
March 1817. The design has been described rather condescendingly as having "a monumental west front of some distinction, but the building is of particular interest as an expression of the empiricism of a provincial architect, acquainted with, but possessing little knowledge of the neo-classical style of the period. It contains some interesting fittings, the most notably being the large painting of The Last Supper by Sir James Thornhill". However, local historian and architect Eric Ricketts was much more sympathetic and described the Church thus "Hamilton’s basilica cannot be classed as an eminent Georgian structure. It is however a fitting design for the era of great orators in the pulpit, large congregations, and in more recent years for fine music. The simple street facade, tripartite like its predecessor, is built in Portland stone of high quality with the dividing of the front being by single and double pilasters. Attractive door fanlights, lending a welcome decorative interest, are about the only concession to applied gaiety which Hamilton permitted himself.....The focal point of the dignified interior was the centrally placed high pulpit which obscured somewhat that fine altar. |
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| Typical of a
Hamilton design - and evident on the Bridport Town Hall -
is the pediment projecting from a plain obtusely gabled
parapet wall surmounted by a cupola. This last has a
square podium containing a clock supporting a ring of
eight free-standing slender Roman Doric columns under a
plain cornice carrying a lead covered dome with
ball-finial and wrought iron weathervane. The formal
architectural description of the church states that it is
rectangular on plan, consisting of a main compartment
containing sanctuary and nave without structural
division, and north and south aisles divided from the
foregoing by colonnades each of seven bays; a galley
extends over the aisles and across the west end of the
nave. The church has no chancel, the sanctuary occupying
the two eastern bays of the main compartment. Hamilton was also responsible for designing the Dissenters (Independent) Chapel in West Street in 1804 and the Methodist Chapel in Lower Bond Street in 1805. Both are now demolished. Apart from buildings along the Esplanade and in the town, Hamilton was also responsible for the design of some of the prominent Georgian buildings on the outskirts of the town - he almost certainly designed Hamilton House in Chamberlaine Road, Wyke Regis as well as Rodwell House at the top of Rodwell Avenue. When, on Monday March 27 1815 at 3 o’clock in the morning the Alexander East-India ship was wrecked on Chesil Beach, opposite Wyke Regis, Hamilton had a stone tablet carved to commemorate the loss of the 130 passengers and crew. It was erected on the wall of Wyke Regis Church in 1816. Research by Stan Pickett of Weymouth based on The Grove Diaries 1809 - 1825 (Desmond Hawkins, Dovecote Press) has also revealed that James Hamilton was retained by Thomas Grove to design and supervise the construction of a "charming mansion" at Berwick St. John in Wiltshire. The task occupied some two and a half years from 1809 to 1811 and Hamilton evidently made nine visits, sometimes staying in the parish to oversee the work. By then he was in his sixties. |
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