Ian Hamilton QC
Encyclopedia
Ian Robertson Hamilton, QC
(born 13 September 1925) is a lawyer
and Scottish Nationalist
. He is best known for his part in the removal of the Stone of Scone
from Westminster Abbey
in 1950.
, Scotland
on 13 September 1925, the son of a tailor
. He attended the John Neilson Institution in Paisley before going on to the University of Glasgow
to study Law, after having served in the British army
.
, he was a member of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association
and the Scottish Covenant Association
. He was also the campaign manager
for the successful bid to have John MacCormick
elected Rector of the University
.
1950, Hamilton, along with three other student Scottish nationalists, removed the Stone of Scone
from its place under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey
, London
. The Stone, originally used for the coronation of Scottish monarchs, had been removed to England
by Edward I in 1296 to bolster his claim to the throne of Scotland. After the Acts of Union 1707
between Scotland and England, it was used for the coronation of British monarchs. As such, Hamilton's action in returning the Stone to Scotland was widely applauded as a symbolic triumph for Scottish nationalism
. The Stone was turned over to the Church of Scotland
, which surrendered it to English authorities in April 1951. Hamilton and his accomplices were charged, but never prosecuted. The Stone was eventually returned to Scotland in 1996, with provision for subsequent use in the coronation of British monarchs.
In 2008, Charles Martin Smith
wrote and directed a feature film entitled Stone Of Destiny
, based on these events, in which Hamilton was portrayed by Charlie Cox
. Hamilton himself had a small part as an English businessman.
, which Hamilton brought with rector John MacCormick against the Crown
, failed. The Inner House
of the Scottish Court of Session
held that the monarch's
title is the sole prerogative
of the sovereign
, and the Crown had accepted a system whereby regnal numbers were taken from the larger of both former kingdoms in the United Kingdom
, that is England and not Scotland. (It was later suggested by Winston Churchill
after the accession of Elizabeth II that, in the future, the higher of the two numerals from the English and Scottish sequences would be used. This system has yet to be put to the test).
and became a practising lawyer.
He joined the Labour Party
for a short while, but has spent most of his life in active politics as a member of the Scottish National Party
(SNP). He was SNP candidate for the Strathclyde East
seat at the 1994 election to the European Parliament
, as well as a candidate for the SNP in the Greenock and Inverclyde
seat at the 1999 election
to the Scottish Parliament
.
He was Rector
of the University of Aberdeen
from 1994–1996 and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) in his final year. He was also chosen by the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association as their candidate for the Glasgow University Rectorial election in 1999 in which he came second to the actor, Ross Kemp
.
Hamilton has written two autobiographical works, that are also in part polemical, A Touch of Treason (1990) and A Touch More Treason (1994). He has launched a blog
, where he posts commentary on Scottish social and political life.
and The Daily Telegraph
reported that Hamilton was suing the Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS) over claims they had mis-sold shares to him in April 2008. Hamilton purchased 640 shares at £2 per share as part of a £12 billion rights issue. The writ he lodged in court claimed that the bank invited shareholders, including him and his wife, to invest in a rights issue, an offer that he took up on her behalf. The writ further alleged that RBS induced him to invest his money by "concealing the true state of their finances". He further alleged that the bank was "negligent in representing themselves as solvent at all material times when in fact they were insolvent".
RBS stated they would defend themselves vigorously against the claims made by Hamilton, but he dropped the case on 26 February 2009 after the small claims court
refused to deal with it, citing the legal and factual complexity of the case, which would require trial in a higher court.
. The film depicted Hamilton as the protagonist leading a team of students to reclaim the Stone of Scone
. Additionally, Hamilton had a small, cameo role.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(born 13 September 1925) is a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and Scottish Nationalist
Scottish independence
Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, advocacy groups and individuals for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state, separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
. He is best known for his part in the removal of the Stone of Scone
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
from Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in 1950.
Early life
Ian was born in PaisleyPaisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on 13 September 1925, the son of a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
. He attended the John Neilson Institution in Paisley before going on to the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
to study Law, after having served in the British army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
.
National activism
It was at University where Hamilton became politically active. A participant in debates at the Glasgow University UnionGlasgow University Union
Glasgow University Union is one of the largest and oldest students' unions in the UK, serving students and alumni of the University of Glasgow since 1885....
, he was a member of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association
Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association
The Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association is a student organisation formed in 1927 at the University of Glasgow which supports Scottish independence....
and the Scottish Covenant Association
Scottish Covenant Association
The Scottish Covenant Association was a non-partisan political organisation in Scotland in the 1940s and 1950s seeking to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly...
. He was also the campaign manager
Campaign manager
A campaign manager is a paid or volunteer individual, whose role is to coordinate the campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote , and other activities supporting the effort, directly.Apart from the candidate, they are often a campaign's most visible leader...
for the successful bid to have John MacCormick
John MacCormick
John MacDonald MacCormick was a lawyer and advocate of Home Rule in Scotland.-Early life:...
elected Rector of the University
Rector of Glasgow University
The Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within that institution, elected every three years by students. The role of the Rector is to represent students to the senior management of the University and raise issues which concern them...
.
Stone of Scone
On Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
1950, Hamilton, along with three other student Scottish nationalists, removed the Stone of Scone
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
from its place under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The Stone, originally used for the coronation of Scottish monarchs, had been removed to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by Edward I in 1296 to bolster his claim to the throne of Scotland. After the Acts of Union 1707
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...
between Scotland and England, it was used for the coronation of British monarchs. As such, Hamilton's action in returning the Stone to Scotland was widely applauded as a symbolic triumph for Scottish nationalism
Scottish independence
Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, advocacy groups and individuals for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state, separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
. The Stone was turned over to the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, which surrendered it to English authorities in April 1951. Hamilton and his accomplices were charged, but never prosecuted. The Stone was eventually returned to Scotland in 1996, with provision for subsequent use in the coronation of British monarchs.
In 2008, Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
wrote and directed a feature film entitled Stone Of Destiny
Stone of Destiny (film)
Stone of Destiny is a 2008 British-Canadian adventure/comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It stars Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Kate Mara and Brenda Fricker....
, based on these events, in which Hamilton was portrayed by Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox is an English actor.-Life and career:Cox, the youngest of five children, was born in London, England and raised in East Sussex, the son of Trisha and Andrew, who is a publisher...
. Hamilton himself had a small part as an English businessman.
MacCormick v. Lord Advocate
When first admitted to the bar as a young advocate in 1953, Hamilton refused to swear allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II arguing that she could only be referred to as "Queen Elizabeth" (sans regnal number) in Scotland as the regnal numbers counted Queen Elizabeth I, who had not ruled over Scotland or any of the subsequent united kingdoms which it has entered into. MacCormick v. Lord AdvocateMacCormick v. Lord Advocate
MacCormick v Lord Advocate was a Scottish legal action in which John MacCormick and Ian Hamilton contested the right of Queen Elizabeth II to style herself ‘Elizabeth II’ within Scotland...
, which Hamilton brought with rector John MacCormick against the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
, failed. The Inner House
Inner House
The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and a court of first instance...
of the Scottish Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
held that the monarch's
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
title is the sole prerogative
Royal Prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
of the sovereign
Sovereign
A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority within its jurisdiction.Sovereign may also refer to:*Monarch, the sovereign of a monarchy*Sovereign Bank, banking institution in the United States*Sovereign...
, and the Crown had accepted a system whereby regnal numbers were taken from the larger of both former kingdoms in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, that is England and not Scotland. (It was later suggested by Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
after the accession of Elizabeth II that, in the future, the higher of the two numerals from the English and Scottish sequences would be used. This system has yet to be put to the test).
Career
After graduating from university, Hamilton was admitted to the barCall to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
and became a practising lawyer.
He joined the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
for a short while, but has spent most of his life in active politics as a member of the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP). He was SNP candidate for the Strathclyde East
Strathclyde East (European Parliament constituency)
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
seat at the 1994 election to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, as well as a candidate for the SNP in the Greenock and Inverclyde
Greenock and Inverclyde (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Greenock and Inverclyde is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...
seat at the 1999 election
Scottish Parliament election, 1999
The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members...
to the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
.
He was Rector
Rector of the University of Aberdeen
The Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen is the students' representative and chairman in the University Court of the University of Aberdeen. The position is rarely known by its full title and most often referred to simply as "Rector". The Rector is elected by students of the University and...
of the University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
from 1994–1996 and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) in his final year. He was also chosen by the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association as their candidate for the Glasgow University Rectorial election in 1999 in which he came second to the actor, Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
.
Hamilton has written two autobiographical works, that are also in part polemical, A Touch of Treason (1990) and A Touch More Treason (1994). He has launched a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, where he posts commentary on Scottish social and political life.
Royal Bank of Scotland lawsuit
In February 2009, BBC NewsBBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
reported that Hamilton was suing the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
(RBS) over claims they had mis-sold shares to him in April 2008. Hamilton purchased 640 shares at £2 per share as part of a £12 billion rights issue. The writ he lodged in court claimed that the bank invited shareholders, including him and his wife, to invest in a rights issue, an offer that he took up on her behalf. The writ further alleged that RBS induced him to invest his money by "concealing the true state of their finances". He further alleged that the bank was "negligent in representing themselves as solvent at all material times when in fact they were insolvent".
RBS stated they would defend themselves vigorously against the claims made by Hamilton, but he dropped the case on 26 February 2009 after the small claims court
Small claims court
Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and the name by which such a court is known varies by jurisdiction; it may be known as a county or magistrate's court...
refused to deal with it, citing the legal and factual complexity of the case, which would require trial in a higher court.
Portrayals in popular culture
In 2008, Hamilton's book, The Taking of the Stone of Destiny, was made into a movie entitled Stone of DestinyStone of Destiny (film)
Stone of Destiny is a 2008 British-Canadian adventure/comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It stars Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Kate Mara and Brenda Fricker....
. The film depicted Hamilton as the protagonist leading a team of students to reclaim the Stone of Scone
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
. Additionally, Hamilton had a small, cameo role.