John Hamilton (1962)

John Francis Hamilton, who studied Natural Sciences at Queens’ College, was “the guy you want when you don’t know what you want”: a man who loved to solve problems. Born into humble circumstances on 20th February 1944 in Paignton, Devon, he went on to become Lead Software Engineer for IBM UK on the Royal Navy Merlin Helicopter programme.

Awarded a scholarship, John went to Sedbergh, a school which lies 50 miles east of the Sellafield nuclear power plant. Soon after his arrival, the plant, then known as Windscale, released radioactive material into a westerly wind in the UK’s worst nuclear accident. Mildly irradiated, one presumes, his school tie hung in his wardrobe throughout his life. He went from Sedbergh to Queens’ College on a state scholarship. There, after an academically brilliant first year, he took on lighting and stage management duties for the Marlowe Dramatic Society, Cambridge Footlights and Bats. The experience of touring with production companies revealed a talent for fixing real-world technical problems in tight situations which would come to define his career.

Around this time, he met Barbara Lawrence, the daughter of a retired District Commissioner in the African Colonial Service. In 1965, he took his degree and was offered a fellowship at the college. Instead, he joined IBM UK. The following year, he married Barbara at Mylor Church, Cornwall.

In the sixties and seventies, John worked as a Systems Engineer and Product Marketing Manager for IBM UK, delivering IT systems for the GLC, the GPO and Natwest Bank among others. In 1979, when IBM UK opened their new HQ on the outskirts of Portsmouth, they moved to Petersfield, Hampshire, where they built a happy, family home with their two sons, William and Richard.

In 1991, he was assigned to IBM Federal Systems as lead software engineer for the RN Merlin Helicopter programme, responsible for air vehicle and tactical avionics software and liaising with the MoD; he received an Exceptional Achievement award for his work. Corporate restructuring lead to John’s department becoming part of the US defence contractor, Lockheed Martin, where he was lead engineer on bids for both the Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) and the Microwave Landing System (MLS).

Following retirement in 2009, he and Barbara left Hampshire, and moved to Northumberland to be near their grandchildren. Here, John drew on a lifetime of project management experience to help oversee the bicentenary restoration of the nearby Union Chain Bridge, Britain’s oldest traffic-carrying, wrought-iron suspension bridge.

In June 2024, he received a terminal cancer diagnosis. Renowned for his ability to stick to a deadline, he was determined to spend Christmas Day with his family, and he was never a man to let anyone down. John died peacefully among his family at his home during the night on 26th December 2024. He is survived by his wife Barbara, his two sons, William and Richard, and numerous grandchildren.

Obituary by Richard Hamilton, John's son