George Hamilton

George Hamilton 1787-1836

Born at Queenston, George Hamilton was the son of a prosperous merchant, the Hon. Robert Hamilton. He followed his father's career as a merchant in the Niagara District until the War of 1812, in which he served as a Captain of Light Dragoons. In 1815 Hamilton acquired land here at the Head of the Lake, laid out a village plot, and sold lots. When the settlement was chosen as the administrative centre of the Gore District in 1816, he gave land for a court-house square. A reformer in politics, George Hamilton was a member of the Assembly for this area from 1812 to 1830. The settlement which Hamilton laid out was named in his honour, and became a Police Village in 1833.