Interviews of John Hamilton

In this interview, John Hamilton (born 1964) talks about his childhood, working life and his life in Haddington. Recalling his early life, John remembers going to Ireland in the holidays (where his maternal grandmother was from) and of playing with his cousins, who lived nearby. An early interest in how things work was fostered by his uncle Jimmy, who worked at Cockenzie Power Station. He recalls his schooldays at St Mary's and then Knox Academy and talks about the school day and tells anecdotes about some of his teachers. He especially remembers Mr MacAskill, the Latin teacher, who had a positive impact on him.

After leaving school, John started his apprenticeship with Ferranti, working first at Robertson Avenue in Edinburgh before stints at Dalkeith and Silverknowes. His working life meant that he engaged with and devloped an expertise in the emerging computer world and this determined his later career within Ferranti's IT department. His interest and expertise in computing led him into involvement with (and later the running of) the Lost Haddington facebook page which now has almost 5,000 followers. John talks about some of the people who helped him to populate this site by providing access to their own archives, including Jack Tully-Jackson and George Angus.

John also talks about how his involvement in the Haddington Community Council led to the commemorations around the centenary of World War 1. During the 2014-2019 period, John helped to co-ordinate a number of events which included individual commemorations, of individual wrought-iron thistles, for the 130 people listed on the Haddington War memorial. John acknowledges the help of many people, especially Alistair Shelpherd's biography and Les Mitchell (but many others too) in realising this commemoration. At the time of the interview, the last event, the dedication of a tree to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the soldiers returning to Haddington on 30th April 1919, was only days away.

Towards the end of the interview, John returns to his childhood, recalling his mother working at Robertson's sweet shop, his father's terrible accident in 1974 and memories of his grandparents home. Just before closing the interview, John talks about his music tastes as a youngster, recalling particularly his love of the music of Jim Steinman, who wrote songs for Meatloaf.