Hamilton

/ham"euhl teuhn/, n.

1. Alexander, 1757-1804, American statesman and writer on government: the first Secretary of the Treasury 1789-97; mortally wounded by Aaron Burr in a duel.

2. Edith, 1867-1963, U.S. classical scholar and writer.

3. Lady Emma, (Amy, or Emily, Lyon), 1765?-1815, mistress of Viscount Nelson.

4. Sir Ian Standish Monteith /mon"teeth/, 1853-1947, British general.

5. Sir William, 1788-1856, Scottish philosopher.

6. Sir William Rowan /roh"euhn/, 1805-65, Irish mathematician and astronomer.

7. former name of Churchill River.

8. Also called Grand River. a river flowing E through S Labrador into the Atlantic. 600 mi. (965 km).

9. Mount, a mountain of the Coast Range in California, near San Jose: site of Lick Observatory. 4209 ft. (1283 m).

10. a seaport in SE Ontario, in SE Canada, on Lake Ontario. 312,003.

11. a city on central North Island, in New Zealand. 154,606.

12. an administrative district in the Strathclyde region, in S Scotland. 107,178; 50 sq. mi. (130 sq. km).

13. a city in this district, SE of Glasgow. 46,376.

14. a city in SW Ohio. 63,189.

15. a seaport in and the capital of Bermuda. 3000.

16. a male given name.

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I

City (pop., 1995 est.: 1,100), capital of Bermuda.

It lies on Great Bermuda island in the western Atlantic, along the shore of a deepwater harbour. Founded in 1790, it succeeded St. George as capital in 1815. To encourage business and employment, it was made a free port in 1956. Tourism is the economic mainstay; cruise ships dock along the main street.

II

City (pop., 2001: city, 490,268; metro. area, 662,401), southeastern Ontario, Canada.

Located on Hamilton Harbour at the western end of Lake Ontario, it was settled by British loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. The opening of the Burlington Canal (1830), linking the harbour to Lake Ontario, led to the city's development as an important port and rail centre. It is now one of Canada's leading industrial centres and a financial hub and the site of McMaster University. The centre of an extensive fruit-growing district, it is the site of one of Canada's largest open-air markets.

III

(as used in expressions)

Aberdeen George Hamilton Gordon 4th earl of

Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton

Fish Hamilton

Hamilton Alexander

Hamilton Edith

Hamilton Emma Lady

Houston Charles Hamilton

Smith Hamilton Othanel

Stephens Alexander Hamilton

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▪ Bermuda

      capital of the British colony of Bermuda. It lies on Great Bermuda island in the western Atlantic, along the northern shore of a deepwater harbour. The name also applies to one of the nine parishes on the island. Founded in 1790 and incorporated in 1793, Hamilton succeeded historic St. George as capital in 1815 and in 1897 was raised to city status. To encourage business and employment, it was made a free port in 1956. Tourism is the economic mainstay; visitors arrive by oceangoing vessels, which dock alongside the main street, and by air at the terminal 8 miles (13 km) northeast. Buildings in the city are commonly painted in pastel shades and have white roofs formed of the native coral. An imposing neo-Gothic cathedral is on Church Street. Nearby are the Sessions House (accommodating the House of Assembly, the Supreme Court, and the judicial offices) and other government buildings. The Bermuda Library and the Historical Society Museum stand in the Par-la-Ville Gardens, and there is an art gallery in the city hall. Pop. (1991) 1,100.

▪ New Zealand

 city, Waikato regional council, north-central North Island, New Zealand. It lies 80 miles (130 km) above the mouth of the Waikato River. Hamilton originated as a military settlement on the site of a deserted Maori village. Declared a borough in 1877 and a city in 1945, it was named for Captain John Hamilton, a Royal Navy officer killed fighting Maoris. The city is now the most important inland centre of New Zealand. It is linked to Auckland (70 miles [113 km] northwest) and Wellington (343 miles [552 km] south) by rail and road, and its airport offers both domestic and international flights. Hamilton serves as a pastoral and lumbering area; industries include dairy and meat processing, brewing, brickmaking, sawmilling, engineering, and the production of stock food, farm machinery, clothing, cardboard cartons, plastics, prefabricated buildings, and coal gas. Hamilton lies on the natural-gas pipelines from the Kapuni and Maui fields. Its prominent institutions include the University of Waikato (1964), a historic Anglican cathedral, the Waikato Museum and its constituent galleries, and the Hamilton Gardens, a multifunctional facility featuring botanical displays, public art, educational programs, and special events facility. Pop. (2006) 129,249.

▪ Ohio, United States

      city, seat (1803) of Butler county, southwestern Ohio, U.S., on the Great Miami River, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Cincinnati. In 1794 a town called Fairfield was laid out adjoining Fort Hamilton, which was used in 1791–96 by Gen. Arthur St. Clair and Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne against the Indians. Fairfield was later renamed for Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. statesman. Rossville, across the river, merged with Hamilton in 1854, by which time the Miami and Erie Canal, with connections to Dayton and Cincinnati, had been built. This and the construction of a hydraulic power plant assured the city's industrial future. The city suffered from the periodic flooding of the Miami, most seriously in 1913 when much of the city was devastated; the Miami Conservancy District was subsequently developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to control the river's flooding. Hamilton is now an agricultural trading centre with diversified manufactures, including safes, automotive parts, paper, aircraft components, and industrial centrifuges. The Soldiers, Sailors, and Pioneers Monument and the Butler County Historical Society Museum (in the Italianate-style Benninghofen House, built 1861) display local relics. A campus (1968) of Miami University is in the city. Seismologist Charles F. Richter (Richter, Charles F.), the developer of the Richter scale, was born just outside Hamilton. Inc. town, 1810; city, 1854. Pop. (2000) 60,690; (2005 est.) 61,943.

▪ Ontario, Canada

      city, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies at the extreme western end of Lake Ontario, on the southern shore of landlocked Hamilton Harbour (Burlington Bay). The site was visited by the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, in 1669. Settlement began with the arrival of loyalists (loyalist) from the rebellious 13 American colonies in 1778. The city was named for George Hamilton, who laid out the original town in 1815 on a sloping plain between the waterfront (north) and the Niagara Escarpment (south), which there rises abruptly to a point (250 feet [75 metres] high) locally known as “the Mountain.” During its early growth, Hamilton was overshadowed by nearby Dundas, but the opening of the Burlington Canal (1830), linking Hamilton Harbour to Lake Ontario, led to its rapid development as an important port and rail centre. In 2001 Hamilton absorbed several surrounding communities that since 1974 had been part of the regional municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, which greatly increased the area and population of the city.

      Hamilton is now one of Canada's leading industrial centres. Its iron and steel industry, which began in the mid 19th century, has grown to become Canada's largest, accounting for a major part of the national steel output. Other industries include the manufacture of railroad equipment, clothing, appliances, turbines, automotive parts, wire, nails, and candy. Health care, local government, and education are also important to the economy. The city is also a financial hub and the centre of an extensive fruit-growing district; it is the site of one of Canada's largest open-air markets.

      Hamilton is well served with rail and freeway connections to Toronto (35 miles [55 km] northeast) and Buffalo, New York, U.S. (55 miles [88 km] southeast). Its excellent harbour, 12 square miles (31 square km) in area, is protected from Lake Ontario by a sandbar 4 miles (6 km) long. Cargoes include coal, grain, steel, and petroleum products. McMaster University (founded in Toronto in 1887 and moved to Hamilton in 1930), noted for nuclear research, is on the western edge of the city. Hamilton Place (1973) is an impressive performing arts centre. The Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum is in City Hall Plaza. Also in the vicinity are Dundurn Castle (1835; a 72-room mansion built for politician Sir Allan Napier MacNab), the Royal Botanical Gardens (1941), and Stoney Creek Battlefield Monument, the site of a decisive battle of the War of 1812. The Art Gallery of Hamilton is one of Canada's largest and finest collections of Canadian art. African Lion Safari houses some 1,000 animals roaming freely throughout a park setting. The Museum of Steam and Technology preserves the city's industrial heritage, and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum displays military aircraft from World War II to the present. Inc. village, 1816; town, 1833; city, 1846. Area 431 square miles (1,117 square km). Pop. (2006) city, 504,559; metropolitan area, 647,634.

▪ Scotland, United Kingdom

      large burgh (town), South Lanarkshire council area, historic county of Lanarkshire, west-central Scotland, situated near the junction of Avon Water and the River Clyde, just southeast of the metropolitan complex of Glasgow. The area has been settled since prehistoric times. Cadzow Castle, 2 miles (3 km) southeast, was a royal residence from the 10th century. The town took its name in 1445 from the Hamilton family, to whom it was given by Robert I (the Bruce) after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. It became a royal burgh in 1548 but surrendered its title in 1670. The discovery of coal caused great expansion of the town in the 19th century, and iron foundries and engineering works were established. By 1947, however, all the pits had stopped production. Hamilton is now mainly a commercial, residential, and administrative centre with some light engineering, textile, and food-processing plants. It is the centre for a considerable area of orchards, market gardens, and dairy farms. Pop. (2004 est.) 48,220.

▪ Victoria, Australia

      city in the fertile western region of Victoria, Australia, on the Grange Burn River. The original village (founded in 1850) grew around an inn on the north bank of the river and was called The Grange. It became an important way station for coach traffic in the 1850s between Portland and the goldfields. Renamed Hamilton, it became a municipality in 1859, a town in 1928, and a city in 1949. Situated on the Henty and Glenelg highways, Hamilton is linked to Melbourne, 165 miles (266 km) to the east, by rail. The Hamilton Art Gallery holds fine collections of ceramics, silverware, porcelain, and glass. There are also several schools as well as a small museum of Aboriginal culture. Its industries include knitting mills and sawmills, dairy plants, and wallboard manufacturing. Pop. (2001) urban centre, 9,119.

▪ county, New York, United States

      county, northeastern New York state, U.S., consisting of a mountainous region located in the centre of Adirondack Park (1892), which is one of the largest parks in the United States and the nation's first forest preserve. The area is heavily wooded with spruce and balsam fir trees. Notable peaks of the Adirondack Mountains include Dun Brook, Wakely, Snowy, and Pillsbury mountains. The Adirondack Museum is located near Blue Mountain Lake. The principal waterways are the Cedar, Moose, Jessup, Miami, and Sacandaga rivers and Long, Raquette, Indian, Piseco, and Little Tupper lakes.

      Iroquoian-speaking Mohawk Indians may have hunted in the region. The county was formed in 1816 and named for statesman Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton, Alexander). Its seat is Lake Pleasant. In the late 19th century millionaires constructed rustic but elaborate summer homes there that they referred to as “camps.” Hamilton county is the least populous county in New York, and its economy is based primarily on tourism. Area 1,721 square miles (4,457 square km). Pop. (2000) 5,379; (2007 est.) 5,075.

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