John Hamilton (Queensland politician)

Australian politician

John Hamilton

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Gympie
In office
15 November 1878 – 7 September 1883
Preceded by| James Kidgell
Succeeded by| William Smyth
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Cook
In office
30 October 1883 – 27 August 1904

Serving with Frederick Cooper, Thomas Campbell, Charles Hill

Preceded by| John Walsh
Succeeded by| John Hargreaves
Personal details
Born|

John Dinwoodie

(1841-08-19)19 August 1841
Melbourne, Colony of New South Wales
Died| 7 December 1916(1916-12-07) (aged 75)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resting place| Toowong Cemetery
Nationality| Australian
Political party| Ministerialist
Occupation| Gold miner, Amateur doctor

John Hamilton (19 August 1841 - 7 December 1916), also known as John Dinwoodie, was an Australian politician.

## Early life

[edit]

He was born in Melbourne to saddler John Dinwoodie and Janet, née McFarlane. He was sent to a private tutor in England before travelling to Rockhampton with the intention to become a pastoralist. He instead became a gold miner at the Calliope gold rush and moved to Gympie in 1867, where he became a magistrate under the name John Hamilton. He also practiced as a doctor despite his lack of qualifications, and in 1877 was a surgeon to the hospital at the Hodgkinson gold rush, where he attracted publicity with a public dispute with the local warden and a successful defamation case after allegations that he seduced the daughter of a friend of the local editor.

## Politics

[edit]

In 1878 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Gympie and supported Thomas McIlwraith's conservative group. In 1883 he changed seat to Cook, winning the election amid allegations of vote rigging.[1]

Hamilton supported the North Queensland separatist movement and continued to support McIlwraith's conservative successors, becoming a significant but occasionally rebellious backbencher, successfully opposing the attempted reduction of parliamentary salaries in 1893 and defeating the nomination of Alfred Cowley as Speaker in 1899. In 1903 he lost his post as government whip and in 1904 lost his seat to a Labour candidate.

## Later life

[edit]

Following his defeat he retired, and died in 1916 at the Royal Brisbane Hospital,[1] having never married and was buried at Toowong Cemetery.[2][3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Bolton, G. C. (1972). "Hamilton, John (1841-1916)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
2. ^ Hamilton John Archived 3 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine -- Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
3. ^ "[Funeral notices]". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 8 December 1916. p. 6\. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2015.

Parliament of Queensland

Preceded by

James Kidgell

|  Member for Gympie
1878-1883  | Succeeded by

William Smyth

Preceded by

John Walsh

|  Member for Cook
1883-1904
Served alongside: Frederick Cooper, Thomas Campbell, Charles Hill | Succeeded by

John Hargreaves

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

People|

* Trove
* Australia