MSS 14, PC 12, TC 70

Title: Hamilton Family fonds

Dates: 1919-1986

Extent: 2.5 m of textual records and other material

Biographical Sketch: Dr. T.G. Hamilton was born in Agincourt, Ontario in 1873. In 1883 his family moved west to Saskatchewan and was among the first pioneer families to settle in Saskatoon. After his father died in 1891, his mother moved the family to Winnipeg where young Thomas Glendenning Hamilton attended Manitoba College. He graduated from medical school in 1903, completed his internship at the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1904 and commenced practice in the district of Elmwood within Winnipeg in 1905. In 1915 he was president of the Manitoba Medical Association. Hamilton also served on the Public School Board for nine years, one year as chairman. He was also elected a member of the provincial legislature 1914-1915. In 1918, soon after his young son's death, he began to experiment with psychic phenomena. His aim was the investigation of paranormal phenomena such as rappings, psychokinesis, ectoplasms, and materializations under scientific conditions that would minimize any possibility of error. His work became known in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Between 1926 to 1935 he presented eighty-six lectures and wrote numerous articles that were published in Canada and abroad. Dr. Hamilton's wife Lillian carried on his paranormal experimentations following his death in 1935.

Custodial History: The records were donated by T.G. and Lillian's daughter, Margaret Hamilton Bach and her daughters in several instalments between 1979 and 1986.

Scope and Content: The collection is primarily related to Dr. T.G. and Lillian Hamilton's investigations of psychic phenomena spanning the years 1918 to 1945. The subject matter of the records includes rappings, clairvoyance, trance states and trance charts, telekinesis, wax molds, bell-ringing, transcripts and visions, as well as teleplasmic manifestations. The records are in the following various formats: scrapbooks, seance attendance records and registers, affidavits, automatic writings, correspondence, speeches and lectures, newsclippings, journal articles, books, photographs, glass plate negatives and positives, prints, slides, tapes, manuscripts, and promotional materials related to major publications. All positive prints taken from the photographic negatives have been retained with the written records of the experiments which they illustrate. Almost all the glass plate negatives were photographed for archival purposes, and the black and white glossy print collection is also available. A library of related books and journals which accompanied the collection has been separately catalogued and is available.

Restrictions: The fonds is open to all researchers.

Finding aids:

Manuscript Collection: MSS 14

Photograph Collection: PC 12

Tape Collection: TC 70

Click here to view digital reproductions of the photograph collection

Click here to view a compilation of photographs set to original music or view it on YouTube

See Hamilton's relations with Conan Doyle during his 1923 visit to Winnipeg