father. His mother Jean died approximately at the time of this move or shortly before. In 1804 his father remarried: to Margaret McAra. By this time young Thomas seems largely to have been working under the wing of his uncle. John Hamilton (d.1812), a builder living and operating from 4 Dundas Street in the New Town, helping with building projects such as Heriot Row. During this time he acquired considerable knowledge of stone masonry. In 1812 his uncle John died and left the bulk of his estate to Hamilton who was 28 years old. This included several houses on Heriot Row and Dundas Street, built by them both. Since the move to Princes Street, however, his father's affairs had been in disarray, with Hamilton possibly supporting him to some degree. In 1813 his uncle James Hamilton of Springhill agreed to pay £40 towards his father's debts to fend off creditors, but this was never paid. His father was then pursued through the courts from 1818-1822, resulting in the poinding of his goods. His father removed to Currie where he died in June 1824. Hamilton's earliest known architectural drawing, dated 1813, is a plan requested by the Dean of Guild for a scheme by Robert Burn (architect) (1752–1815) to remodel a house on St Andrew Street. Hamilton was a founding member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1826. In the 1830s he is listed as living at 57 York Place, on the eastern edge of the Edinburgh New Town. He trained John Henderson in the 1820s. The architect John Starforth trained under Hamilton in the 1830s. In 1852, he submitted a design for improving the Bank of Scotland's Head Office, which was unpopular and described as a "prominent deformity" by Lord Cockburn in 1849. The design was of Greek neo-classical style, and he received 200 guineas (£12000 in today's terms). In his final years he was living at 41 York Place. Interestingly, in deference to his father, he is still referred to as "Thomas Hamilton Junior, architect". He died at 9 Howe Street (an office) on 24 February 1858. He is buried in John Hamilton's vault in Old Calton Cemetery, a few yards south of the Martyrs Monument. Originally unmarked, the pupils of the Royal High School placed a commemorative wall plaque inside the vault in 1929 (to mark the school's centenary). The Martyrs' Monument The Scottish Political Martyrs' Monument is