Henry Hamilton (governor)

Henry Hamilton
Portrait of Governor Henry Hamilton
Born	c. 1734 Dublin, Ireland
Died	29 September 1796 (aged 62) Antigua, British North America, British Empire, present-day Antigua and Barbuda
Nationality	British
Other names	Hair Buyer, Hair-buyer General
Occupation	soldier, army officer, governor
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Lee
Children	Mary Anne Pierpoint Hamilton (daughter)
Parent(s)	Henry Hamilton
Relatives	Sackville Hamilton (brother)

Henry Hamilton (c. 1734 – 29 September 1796) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and government official of the British Empire. He was captured, during the American Revolutionary War, while serving as the Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, at the British outpost of Fort Detroit.

Henry was probably born in Dublin, Leinster, Kingdom of Ireland, in present-day Dublin, Leinster, Republic of Ireland, a younger son of Henry Hamilton, an Irish Member of Parliament. Hamilton was raised in County Cork, Ireland.

Henry Hamilton started his military career, during the French and Indian War, as a Captain in the 15th Regiment of Foot in the 1758 attack on Louisbourg and the Battle of Quebec. With the support of Governor General of British North America Guy Carleton, Hamilton rose to the rank of brigade major. In 1775, he sold his commission, leaving the British Army for a political career.

In 1775, Henry Hamilton was appointed Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Fort Detroit, Province of Quebec, British North America, British Empire, now present-day Detroit, Michigan, one of five newly created lieutenant governorships in the recently expanded, eastern territory of Canada. The American Revolutionary War was already underway, by the time Governor Hamilton arrived to assume his government duties, in the Great Lakes region. Hamilton was in a difficult position: as a civil official, he had few British regular troops at his command, and the natives of the region—French Canadians and American Indians—were not all supporters of the British regime. Normand Macleod, a local fur trader and army officer, acted as the temporary "town major", a British government official, in command of a fortified town, before Hamilton's arrival.