Eldest son of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, of Killyleah Castle, county Down, Ireland, Esq.
Captain Gawen William Hamilton CB was born and educated in France. He appears to have held a command in the Donegal yeomanry, previous to his becoming a sailor.
Mr. Hamilton entered the navy in 1801, and had the advantage of serving the whole of his time as midshipman and lieutenant under that excellent officer Captain (now Sir Benjamin) Hallowell. He was consequently present at the capture of St. Lucia and Tobago, in 1803.
During the operations in Egypt, after the surrender of Alexandria, Mr. Hamilton received a severe wound in the heel, which is still open, and likely to continue so during the remainder of his life. He was made a lieutenant in Nov. 1807, and promoted to the rank of commander early in 1810.
Captain Hamilton’s first appointment was to the Onyx brig, in which vessel we find him very actively employed, under the orders of Sir Richard G. Keats, during the siege of Cadiz, from whence he returned home with despatches at the commencement of 1811. He subsequently returned thither, and superintended the flotilla, of which mention has been made at p. 323, until his advancement to post rank, Dec. 4, 1811. From that period he commanded the Termagant of 20 guns, and Rainbow 26, on the Mediterranean station, until the conclusion of the European war, in 1814.