Henry Hamilton(1853-1918)

Henry Hamilton was an English dramatist and lyricist who was born in 1853 at Nunhead, Surrey, England. He made his theatrical debut as an actor in 1873 at Edinburgh's Theatre Royal before moving on to London, where he appeared at the Drury Lane and the Lyceum Theatre. After ten years as a thespian, he quit acting to become a playwright.His first produced play was "A Shadow Sceptre". He frequently collaborated with Cecil Raleigh and Augustus Harris. Hamilton and Raleigh's plays The Whip (1928) (1912), "Stolen Orders (1918)" (1915), "The Hope (1920)", "The Derby Winner" a.k.a. The Sporting Duchess (1920) (1895, co-written with Harris), and The Best of Luck (1920) (co-written with Arthur Collins) were adapted for the movies, as was another collaboration with Harris without Raleigh, The Royal Oak (1923). He worked extensively in musical theater and, as a lyricist, wrote the popular jingoistic song "Private Tommy Atkins".Henry Hamilton died in Kent, England on September 4, 1918.