Lord Frederic Hamilton

Born in Brighton on October 13, 1856, Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton was the sixth son of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, and Louisa Russell. He built a varied public career as a diplomat and Conservative politician, serving in the diplomatic service from 1877 to 1884 and later sitting in Parliament for Manchester South West and North Tyrone.

Hamilton is remembered today both for his memoirs and for an unexpected place in Canadian sports history. While serving in Ottawa as aide-de-camp to the Governor General, Lord Lansdowne, he brought skis from Russia and in 1887 helped introduce skiing to Canada. The episode fits the tone of his writing: curious, observant, and often amused by the worlds he moved through.

As an author, he wrote The Days Before Yesterday, Vanished Pomps of Yesterday, and Here, There and Everywhere, later known together as My Yesterdays. These books look back on aristocratic life, diplomacy, and travel with a readable, anecdotal style that still appeals to listeners who enjoy firsthand glimpses of a vanished era. He later edited The Pall Mall Magazine and died in Westminster on August 11, 1928.