Sir
Archibald Hamilton
Another distinguished convert buried in Brookwood
is Sir Abdullah Archibald Hamilton, baronet, a relation of the English
royal family. He is pictured here with his wife. He died in March
1939, and his obituary in the Islamic Review of June 1939
is given below.
Sir Archibald, fifth baronet of the first (1776)
creation and third baronet of the second creation (1819), succeeded
to these baronetcies on the death of his father, the late Sir Charles
Edward Hamilton, in 1915.
He married (first) in 1897, Olga, only daughter of Rear-Admiral
Sir Adolphus Fitzgeorge, K.C.V.O., and granddaughter of Field-Marshal
H.R.H. the late Duke of Cambridge, first cousin to Queen Victoria;
and (second) in 1906, Algosta Marjorie Blanch.
He had one
son from his first wife, who was born in 1898, at whose baptism
his late Majesty King George and Queen Mary attended in person as
sponsors, and who died in action as a Lieutenant in the Grenadier
Guards in Flanders in 1918. On the death of his second wife in 1927,
Sir Archibald married for the third time, and this is the present
Lady Hamilton who survives him.
Sir Archibald was a descendant of William Hamilton, one of the
six Kentish petitioners, brother of Sir James Hamilton of Donalton,
direct ancestor of the Duke of Abercorn, and also Baron Hamilton
of Paisley, who married Mary, daughter of King James II of Scotland.
Sir Archibald embraced Islam in 1924 and had since been an ardent
preacher of the faith.
The sad news reached the (Woking) Mosque on the morning of the
18th (March 1939), and the Imam went down to Selsey to arrange,
in consultation with Lady Hamilton, for the obsequies. The following
Tuesday, he went down again, accompanied by the secretary and two
other helpers, to attend to the ritual washing and shrouding. This
done, the body lay in state till the morning of Thursday, the 23rd,
when it was brought by motor car to the Brookwood Muslim Cemetery.
The mournful procession arrived at the cemetery at 12.30 p.m. The
Imam, with other workers of the Mosque and distinguished members
of the Muslim Community, had already arrived there. The Salat
al-Janaza was offered in the midst of solemn silence, the relations
and friends of the deceased participating. The body was lowered
amidst the suppressed mourning of all at about a quarter to one.
His grave lies by the side of another and older stalwart of English
Islam, the late lamented Al-Haj Lord Headley al-Farooq. They were
great friends in life and close comrades-in-arms in the cause of
Islam. It was in the fitness of things that in death also they should
lie together. May Allah shower His mercy on their valiant souls
and make them an inspiration for those who survive them.
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