Agnes Sillars Hamilton
Agnes Sillars Hamilton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1790s |
| Died | October 22, 1870 |
| Nationality | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Spouse | Edward Hamilton |
| Children | Archibald Sillars Hamilton |
Agnes Sillars Hamilton (1790s – October 22, 1870) was a Scottish phrenologist.
Life
She was born in about 1794 and her parents were Jane (born MacDougall) and Archibald Sillars. In 1819 she was married to Edward Hamilton and they had a son, Archibald Sillars Hamilton.[1]
She comes to notice in 1832 when when was known as a lecturer on politics. She moved to the subject of women's equality and then onto phrenology. By the 1840s she was reported as dealing in "practical phrenology".[2] Hamilton would use a group of marbles to illustrate the principles of phrenology.[1] Over 15 years she said that she had analysed the heads of 60,000 people as she toured throughout Britain and Ireland. Where she gathered interest she may spend some months in that town but in other cases she would quickly move on.[2]
She was well received but she was not able to retire and she attracted varying reviews from acknowledged phrenologists George Combe and Andrew Combe[2] of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society. One account notes her as a "dirty old woman".[1]
Her son Archibald Sillars Hamilton left for Australia in 1854 where he continued her profession. Archibald was given the head of Ned Kelly after his death and he published an account of the skull's phrenology.[1]
Hamilton died in Edinburgh in 1870.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d "Getting a head". Portrait magazine. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- ^ a b c d The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women. Ewan, Elizabeth,. Edinburgh. ISBN 9781474436298. OCLC 1057237368.
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