The Riddell Collection of Wax Seals:
Seal Life Stories: the remarkable careers of 23 individuals from the Riddell Collection of Wax Seals
17: sir william Hamilton of preston (1788-1856)
Sir William Hamilton of Preston
Sir William Hamilton was born in Glasgow to William Hamilton (Regius Professor of Anatomy and Botany at the University of Glasgow) and Elizabeth Stirling. He was educated in England and Scotland before beginning his studies in philosophy at the University of Glasgow in 1803. He went on to study at Oxford and Edinburgh, adding law and medicine to his achievements in philosophy, and by 1836 was appointed Chair of Logic and Metaphysics at Edinburgh.
In 1817 and 1820 Hamilton travelled to Germany where he studied the writings of Kant and his associated philosophical movement. This would heavily influence his work from then on, particularly the teaching for which he is best known.
He is widely acknowledged to have made a significant contribution to Scottish philosophy at a time in which the field was proliferating.
He married Janet Marshall in 1828, with four children, including Elizabeth Hamilton, best known for her contribution to Encyclopaedia Britannica.