Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Hamilton, Walter (1908-1988), classicist, Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Parallel form(s) of name
- Walter Hamilton, FRSL
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
10 February 1908 - 8 February 1988
History
Master of Magdalene College, 1967-1978
Educated at Trinity College, and Fellow of Trinity, 1931-1933, 1946-1950 (University Lecturer in Classics, 1947). Published an extremely successful translation of Plato’s Symposium (1951). Head Master of Westminster School (1950-1957) and of Rugby (1957-1966); chairman of the Headmasters’ Conference. Honorary Fellow , 1978.
‘Not so hearty as Willink, not so pedagogic as Ramsay, not so melancholy as Benson, and not so teetotal as Donaldson’ – Lord Ramsey, on Hamilton’s retirement (College Magazine 22 (1977-78) p 2). What most people remember is his baleful humour.
Further reading:
College Magazine vol. 22 (1977-78) pp. 2-4 (D. W. Babbage)
Obituary College Magazine vol. 32 (1987-88) pp. 11-16 (R. Hyam)
College Magazine* vol. 36 (1991-92) pp. 59-61 (review by R. Luckett)