Ernie Hamilton

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameErnest Samuel "Ernie"•Hamilton
Used nameErnie•Hamilton
Born17 April 1883 in Montréal, Québec (CAN)
Died19 December 1964 in Pointe-Claire, Québec (CAN)
AffiliationsMontréal Lacrosse Club, Montréal (CAN)
NOC Canada
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

By 1906 Ernie Hamilton was already a well-regarded rugby football player, as well as a star with the Montreal Lacrosse Club. In 1907 he won national honors as a rugby player, but the sport for which he was most known was lacrosse. In 1908 he participated in the trials for what would become Canada’s first truly national lacrosse delegation and was selected to travel with them to the 1908 Summer Olympics. After a schedule change, the squad ended up arriving six weeks early and Hamilton joined some of his teammates in visiting Ireland, prior to defeating the British team, their only opponents, 14-10 and securing a gold medal. After the Olympic tournament, several of the Canadians retired from active play, but Hamilton was the first to re-engage in active competition in May of 1909, despite being elected as the president of the Montreal Hockey Club in April, another sport at which he excelled. By June, however, his intentions had vacillated and he dropped out of both rugby and lacrosse by the end of the month.

Three years later, in May of 1912, Hamilton was elected president of the Montreal Lacrosse Team. When the National Lacrosse Union voted to reinstate the role of the field captain later that month, he took on that position as well, in addition to his coaching duties. In November 1913 he stepped down as president, intending to leave the sport forever, but he was again drawn back into the club and immediately elected vice-president. In the 1930s he was one of the trustees for the lacrosse MVP cup in the International Professional League and remained a figure in the sport into the 1940s. In 1933 he helped organize the Royal Montreal Hockey Club whose senior division won the Allan Cup, given annually to the senior men’s ice hockey champions in Canada, in 1939 and 1947. The junior division won the Memorial Cup, the junior-level equivalent of the Allen Cup, in 1949. His son William McLean Hamilton served as a Member of Parliament from Montreal and Postmaster General of Canada.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1908 Summer Olympics Lacrosse CAN Ernie Hamilton
Lacrosse, Men (Olympic) Canada 1 Gold

Olympic family relations