Thomas Glendenning Hamilton - Life

Life

T.G. Hamilton was born in 1873, in Agincourt (now part of Toronto), the son of James Hamilton and Isabella Glendenning. When T.G. was ten, the Hamiltons and their six children moved to Saskatchewan to homestead near Saskatoon. Not long after two tragedies occurred in rapid succession: T.G.’s father died in 1885 and a year later T.G.'s sister Margaret died of typhoid fever. This and the availability of educational opportunities elsewhere led the family to abandon Saskatchewan in 1891 to move to Winnipeg. T.G. was educated at Manitoba College and the Manitoba Medical College, graduating as an M.D. from the latter in 1903. He lectured in medical jurisprudence and clinical surgery at the Manitoba Medical College, and was an assistant surgeon at the Winnipeg General Hospital. He married Lillian May Forrester three years later and in 1910 set up a private medical practice in a home, later known as Hamilton House, located on what is now Henderson Highway in Elmwood, a suburb of Winnipeg. He and Lillian had four children: Margaret, Glen and in 1915, twins, Arthur Lamont and James Drummond. In terms of religion, the Hamiltons were Presbyterian and later members of the United Church of Canada.

Besides being a respected medical practictioner in his own city, Hamilton became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1920, president of the Manitoba Medical Association in 1921-22 and founder and first editor of the Manitoba Medical Bulletin, and president of the Canadian Medical Association in 1922. He was an elder of King Memorial church for 28 years. T.G. served on the Public School Board for nine years from 1906 to 1915, one year as chairman. T.G. was the first president of the University of Manitoba Alumni Association in 1921 and became the first president of the Winnipeg Society for Psychical Research in 1931.

Hamilton also served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1915 to 1920 as a member of the Liberal Party. He first sought election to the Manitoba legislature in the 1914 provincial election, and lost to Conservative Harry Mewhirter by 364 votes in the Elmwood constituency. He ran again in the 1915 election, and defeated new Conservative candidate D. Munro by 1,453 votes. The Liberals won a landslide majority in this election, and Hamilton served as a backbench supporter of Tobias C. Norris's government for the next five years.

Hamilton sought re-election in the 1920 provincial election, in the restructured ten-member constituency of Winnipeg. Members were elected by a single transferable ballot. Hamilton finished in twentieth place on the first count with 786 votes, and was eliminated on the 22nd count.