Claud Hamilton Ltd

Electrical engineers Claud Hamilton Ltd advertised their history as follows in 1898: 'The business was established in 1880 [as] Norman & Son, and subsequently converted into a Private Limited Liability Company ... Being Manufacturers of Electrical Fittings, Instruments and Apparatus of all Descriptions, the Company is enabled to undertake work on the most favourable terms. Installations already fitted include many well-known mills, factories, warehouses and private residences, while a large connection has also been secured in the electrical fitting of ships, yachts, &c.' 1 Claud Hamilton, already a manager, was to become managing director as part of a restructuring and expansion in 1898. 2

Hamilton (born c. 1864) was the son of a machinery agent, educated in Glasgow and possibly with relatives in Aberdeen. 3 He set up his own electrical engineering firm around 1888, and is listed at the same address as Norman & Son for several years. 4 By the age of only 28, he could afford to live in the newly-built Charing Cross Mansions, a lavishly appointed tenement embellished with statuary, tiling and wrought-ironwork (J. J. Burnet, 1889–91). 5

Claud Hamilton Ltd raised over £50,000 from its 1898 share issue, which was 'considerably over-applied for.' 6 The firm tendered for the lighting of the Industrial Hall at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901, 7 and Hamilton enjoyed his success with a home in Park Quadrant, one of Glasgow's most exclusive areas. 8 The firm entered the burgeoning motor industry in 1904, and it was as a car mechanic's and garage business that they survived in Hillhead, Glasgow, and in Aberdeen, until the 1960s. 9