Person

Hamilton, Harold (1885 - 1937)

Born
2 February 1885
Napier, New Zealand
Died
31 December 1937
Rotorua, New Zealand
Occupation
Antarctic explorer, Biologist and Museum director

Summary

Harold Hamilton gained a diploma from the geological division of the Otago University School of Mines where he also spent time as demonstrator in surveying. At the time of his appointment to the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911 Hamilton was studying collection techniques at the Australian Museum on behalf of the Dominion Museum, New Zealand, for which he was an entomological collector. As biologist to the Expedition's Macquarie Island party, he made significant collections of flora and fauna specimens. He also assisted Leslie Blake in conducting the first survey of the Island. Having concluded his appointment to the Expedition early in 1913, he revisited the Antarctica in the summer of 1913/4 on the voyage to collect Douglas Mawson and the remaining five members of the Cape Denison Party. During WWI Hamilton served with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in the United Kingdom. In his later career he was Assistant Director of the Dominion Museum and inaugural Director of the School of Maori Arts and Crafts in Rotorua. Mount Hamilton, Macquarie Island, was named in his honour.

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Details

Chronology

1911
Career position - Biologist, Australian Museum
1911 - February 1913
Career position - Biologist, Macquarie Island Party, Australasian Antarctic Expedition
1915
Award - Polar Medal (Silver)
1919 - 1927
Career position - Assistant Director, Dominion Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
1927
Career event - Appointed Inaugural Director, School of Maori Arts and Crafts, Rotorua, New Zealand

Related Events

Published resources

Books

  • Hamilton, H., Ecological notes and illustrations of the flora of Macquarie Island (Sydney: Government Printer, 1926), 30 pp. Details

See also

  • Jensen, David, Mawson's remarkable men: the personal stories of the epic 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expediton (Sydeny: Allen and Unwin, 2015), 183 pp. Details
  • Mawson, Douglas, The home of the blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911 - 1914, 2 vols (London: J.B. Lippincott: Heinemann, 1915). Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 24 March 2022

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