Ian Robertson Hamilton KC (13 September 1925 – 3 October 2022) was a Scottish lawyer and nationalist, best known for his part in the return of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey to Arbroath Abbey in 1950.
Early life
Hamilton was born in Paisley, Scotland, on 13 September 1925, the son of a tailor. He attended the John Neilson Institution in Paisley then Allan Glen's School in Glasgow, before going on to the University of Glasgow to study law, after having served in the Royal Air Force. MacCormick v Lord Advocate, 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 could be used. This system has yet to be put to the test.)
Career
After graduating from university, Hamilton was admitted to the bar and became a practising lawyer.
His play The Tinkers of the World was staged at Edinburgh's Gateway Theatre early in 1957.
Hamilton joined the Labour Party for a short while, but 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.
Hamilton was Rector of the University of Aberdeen from 1994 to 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 wrote two autobiographical works, that are also in part polemical, A Touch of Treason (1990) and A Touch More Treason (1994). At one time he wrote a blog, where he posted commentary on Scottish social and political life, and latterly occasionally posted thoughts to Twitter including support for Scottish independence. He died in North Connel on 3 October 2022, aged 97.
Royal Bank of Scotland lawsuit
In February 2009, BBC News 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".
Portrayals in popular culture
In 2008, Hamilton's book, The Taking of the Stone of Destiny, was made into a movie entitled Stone of Destiny. The film depicted Hamilton (played by Charlie Cox) as the protagonist leading a team of students to reclaim the Stone of Destiny. Additionally, Hamilton had a small cameo role.