David Hamilton was born in Glasgow on 11 May 1768, the son of William Hamilton, mason. He appears to have trained as a mason, probably with his father, and was admitted to the Incorporation of Masons in Glasgow in 1800. However the year before, 1799, he is listed in Post Office directories as an architect, his address being the east side of Queen Street. There is evidence that he was turning his hand to designing buildings in the early 1790s but his significant extant work dates from about 1800 when he was in his thirties. In 1803 he was practising as an architect while also running a marble cutting business from a yard at the head of Buchanan Street which operated until at least 1830. This firm was called David Hamilton & Son as early as 1803. We know that his son John was in charge of the business in the 1830s but it is not clear if he is the ‘son’ in the practice name as early as 1803. If this is the case then John must have been considerably older than Hamilton’s other sons who were born in the 1790s and early 1800s.

Hamilton’s later work is well-recorded: a number of well-known Victorian architects worked in his office and left their recollections. He must have had some interaction with the Adam family as he made copies of many Adam drawings to which he, otherwise, would not have had access. As a mason he may have executed designs by the Adams. 

His first major work was the planning of two streets, Union Street and King Street and various bridges in Aberdeen which he had won in competition. Work began on the Union Bridge over the Denburn Valley in 1801 but his levels were inaccurate and his design was superseded by that of Thomas Fletcher the resident superintending engineer with advice from Thomas Telford. He also gained recognition in the competition for the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, being placed third, the only Scottish prizewinner. His scheme lacked a significant tower or dominant feature to mark it as a public building. A critic in the Gentlemen’s Magazine noted that it was reminiscent of a ‘splendid patrician mansion rather than of an edifice intended for any grand national purpose’. Other competitions he entered were the Wellington monument in Dublin (an obelisk rising from a cluster of Doric columns) and in 1838 he won third prize in the competition for designing Donaldson’s Hospital in Edinburgh.

Hamilton’s earliest designs show the influence of James Wyatt as well as of the Adams. However he also owes something to the early work of Soane, especially in the ornaments on the rooflines of his buildings. The Queen Street Theatre known from elevations in Denholm’s ‘History of Glasgow (1804) and Hutcheson’s Hospital are examples of his early style. During his middle period he worked competently in the Greek Revival style – such as at Falkirk Town Steeple (Greek Doric order) and at Glasgow Royal Exchange (Corinthian order). It is hard to find parallels to his designs of the middle period, particularly in proportion and composition.

His last years were experimental. He was equally adept at designing in the Scots Jacobean style (for example at Dunlop) where the practice exhibited a good grasp of Scots 17th century work; the Norman Revival style (at Lennox Castle which could be compared to Hopper’s castles in England and Wales). His one essay in the Adam Castle style, Kincaid, which is symmetrical, is equally successful. His design for Castle Toward was asymmetrical and reminiscent of the work of Wyatville. His planning was also good – being both resourceful and ingenious. The Normal School is notable at the time of its building for its composition and Renaissance detail. The former Western Bank in Miller Street is unprecedented in detail which is almost Egyptian in inspiration and containing a germ of the future style of Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. His last work, the Glasgow and Ship Bank returns to classical purity and may have been American in inspiration. 

Hamilton married in 1794. He had at least four sons. Two of them died within a matter of days of each other in 1821. David, in his nineteenth year, died on 9 October and William, the eldest son, in his twenty-fifth year died on 11 October. William must have trained as an architect as the year before his death he had become a partner of his father, appearing in the Post Office directory for that year as ‘D & W Hamilton architects’. He was a fine watercolourist.

Of the survivors John practised as a marble and stone cutter, took over the business begun by his father and continued trading as David Hamilton & Son. He was probably latterly in sole charge. He ceased trading about 1839 and emigrated to America, dying in Philadelphia in 1853. The business was taken over by the Mossmans. James (born 1807) trained as an architect and according to some sources formed a partnership with his father in about 1834 as D & J Hamilton. However a rather later date for the partnership is suggested by Post Office Directories. In the directory for 1838-39 the entry for James is ‘James Hamilton at D Hamilton’s, architect’. The following year, 1839-40 the entry is ‘David & James Hamilton, architects’. James continued to practice after his father’s death in 1843 as David & James Hamilton until about 1845. He formed a partnership with his brother-in-law James Smith but withdrew after financial troubles. 

Hamilton’s practice was largely confined to Glasgow and the west of Scotland. He was well respected in Glasgow as early as 1822 when he was a member of the Town Council. In 1834 a 'festival' in honour of Reform was led in Glasgow and a dinner was given for Lord Durham. Hamilton was one of the 'platform party' and was one of the croupiers. Near the end of his life he was entertained to a public dinner in 1840 when he was presented with a gold box which had a value of £500. He was seen as the father figure of Glasgow architects. He was known for his ‘singular amicability and modesty’ and for ‘the vivacity of his conversation’. He died after a stroke on 5 December 1843. 


Additional information:
On 15 February 1805 he bought 574 square yards on the west side of Buchanan Street.
On 18 February 1820 he bought 574 square yards on the west side of Buchanan Street.
On 8 March 1820 he bought 574 square yards on the west side of Buchanan Street.
In 1836 he bought a further two plots on the west side of Buchanan Street.