Ian Hamilton was born in Kwai-Yuan, Anhwei, China, on 4 January 1930. His parents, Robert Sinclair Hamilton and Grace, née McGregor, went to China as missionaries in 1925. He went to school at Chefoo and on arrival in New Zealand aged six he could not speak English. He then went to Auckland Primary School and Grammar School, and to the Medical School of Otago, Dunedin. After house appointments in Auckland, he came to England and worked at Chase Farm, Mile End and Hillingdon Hospitals. He was appointed consultant general surgeon in Port Harcourt, Nigeria and then in 1968 to Thames Hospital, New Zealand, where he worked for twenty years. In 1966 he married Barbara Joan Bennett, a state registered nurse and music teacher. He was a keen sportsman, playing golf, cricket and rugby. He also enjoyed skiing, mountain walking and climbing. A dedicated and sympathetic surgeon with high standards, he is remembered for his quiet charm and courtesy, a lively sense of fun and adventure, and a generous nature. He was President of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child in the Thames Region, and of the Bible Society; he was also a member of the Royal Forest and Bird Society and honorary surgeon to the Thames Valley Rugby Union. He had two myocardial infarctions and subsequent bypass surgery. He died on 9 September 1994, having spent seven months on a round-the-world trip with his wife. They had four children, of whom one son, Stuart, died aged 17 in a rafting accident. Their daughter Christine Elizabeth became a nurse, Sheryl Anne became an ecologist and the youngest child, Benjamin, was a medical student at Otago University.