HAMILTON,
a surname originally derived from the lordship and manor of
Hambledon in Leicestershire, the seat of the ancient family of
Hamilton, the first of whom settled in Scotland in the thirteenth
century. In the time of William the Conqueror, as we learn from the
index to Domesday Book, there were several places in England of the
names of Hameldun, Hameldune, Hameledone, Hameltun, Hameltune, and
Hameledune; and different families of the name were established in
various parts of England, about the time of the early Scottish
Hamiltons, but there is no reason to suppose that any of them
settled in Scotland. A william de Hamilton, who belonged to a
Yorkshire family, is repeatedly taken notice of in the Faedera
Angliae, from 1274 to 1305, being employed in various
negociations and transactions of importance. He was archbishop of
York and lord-chancellor of England during the reign of Edward the
first, and one of the commissioners appointed by that monarch who
met at Upsettlington, near Norham castle, on 2d June 1292, to
determine the claims of the competitors for the Scottish crown. In
Cleland’s ‘Annals of Glasgow,’ vol. ii. p. 484, there is inserted
the translated copy of a charter from Malcolm Canmore (who reigned
between 1057 and 1093) to the masons of Glasgow, granting them very
ample privileges, one of the witnesses to which is designed Andrew
Hamilton, bishop of Glasgow; but the authenticity of the deed is
doubted from the fact that there were no bishops of Glasgow for a
considerable period after this; the first, according to Chalmers,
having been John (preceptor of David I.,) who died in 1147. The
first person of the name in Scotland that can be relied upon was
Walter de Hamilton, usually designed Walterus fulius Gilberti, or
Walter Fitz-Gilbert, and from him the ducal family of Hamilton are
descended. His father, Sir Gilbert Hamilton, is said to have been
the son of Sir William de Hamilton, one of the sons of Robert de
Bellomont, surnamed Blanchemaine, third earl of Leicester, who died
in 1190. The story told by Hector Boece, Lesly, Buchanan, and
others, of the first Hamilton who settled in Scotland having been
obliged to flee from the court of Edward the Second in 1323, for
slaying John Despencer, is quite in character with the legendary
origins of families formerly so universal, and is evidently an
invention. The fable goes on to state that having been closely
pursued in his fight, Hamilton and his servant changed clothes with
two woodcutters, and taking the saws of the workmen, they were in
the act of cutting an oak-tree when his pursuers passed. Perceiving
his servant to notice them, Sir Gilbert cried out to him “Through,”
which word, with the oak-tree and saw through it, he took for his
crest. Sir Gilbert’s son, Sir Walter, however, was settled in
Scotland long before this period. In the chartulary of Paisley he
appears as one of the witnesses to the charter of confirmation by
James, great steward of Scotland, to the monastery of Paisley, of
the privilege of a herring fishery in the Clyde, in 1294; and in
1292, and again in 1296, we find him among the barns who swore
fealty to King Edward the First, for ands lying in Lanarkshire and
different other counties. During the contest which ensued for the
succession to the Scottish crown he adhered to the English or Baliol
interest. By Edward the Second he was appointed governor of the
castle of Bothwell, and he held that important fortress for the
English at the period of the battle of Bannockburn. He is mentioned
by Barbour as “Schyr Waltre gilbertson.” He seems soon after to have
been taken into favour with Robert the Bruce, as that monarch
bestowed on him the barony of Cadyow in Lanarkshire, and several
other lands and baronies in that county, and in Linlithgowshire and
Wigtonshire. He continued faithful to King David Bruce, the son of
his great benefactor, and during his minority he accompanied the
regent Douglas to the relief of Berwick, then threatened with a
siege by the English. He was also present at the battle of
Halidon-hil, where he had a command in the second great body of the
army under the young Stewart. He was twice married. His second wife
was Mary, only daughter of Adam de Gordon, ancestor of al the
Gordons in Scotland. He had two sons: Sir David, and John de
Hamilton, who, marrying Elizabeth, daughter of Alan Stewart of
Dreghorn, got with her the lands of Ballencrief, &c. Of him are
descended the Hamiltons of Innerwick, the earls of Haddington, and
others. Sir Walter had two brothers, Sir John de Hamilton de
Rossaven, and Hugo de Hamilton. The former had a charter from his
nephew, Sir David de Hamilton de Cadyow, of the barony of Fingaltoun
in Renfrewshire, dated in 1339. He was ancestor of the Hamiltons of
Fingaltoun and Preston, from whom are sprung the families of Airdrie
and ellershaw, and from the latter are said to be descended the
Hamiltons of Cairnes, and the Hamiltons of Mount Hamilton in
Ireland.
Sir David
de Hamilton, lord of Cadyow, was, like his father, a faithful
adherent of David the Bruce, and after that monarch’s return from
France, he accompanied him in all his excursions into the northern
counties of England. He was taken prisoner with the king at the
disastrous battle of Durham, 17th October, 1346, but soon
obtained his freedom on payment of a heavy ransom. He is mentioned
as one of the magnates Scotiae, at a meeting of the Estates
held at Scone, 27th March 1371, to settle the succession,
when John earl of Carrick was unanimously acknowledged to be the
eldest lawful son of King Robert the Second, and undoubted heir to
the crown. He had three sons: Sir David, his successor; Walter de
Hamilton, ancestor of the Hamiltons of Cambuskeith and Grange in
Ayrshire; and Alan de Hamilton of Lethberd or Larbert in
Linlithgowshire.
The eldest
son, sir David de Hamilton, was knighted by Robert the Second, who,
in 1377, made him a grant of the lands of Bothwell muir. He died
before 1392. He married Janet or Johanetta de Keith, only daughter
and heiress of the gallant Sir William Keith of Galston, and the
ancestrix, not only of the noble family of Hamilton, but of their
cousins the Stewarts of Darnley, from whom James the First of
England, and the subsequent monarchs of the house of Stuart, were
lineally descended. By this lady he had; with a daughter, Elizabeth,
married to Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie and dores, ancestor of the
Frasers, Lord Salton; five sons; namely, Sir John, his successor;
George, ancestor of the Hamiltons of Boreland in Ayrshire; William,
ancestor of the Hamiltons of bathgate; Andrew, ancestor of the
Hamiltons of Udston; and John, ancestor of the family of Bardowie.
The eldest
son, Sir John Hamilton of Cadyow, when returning from France, in
1398, with Sir John Hamilton of Fingaltoun, and some other Scottish
gentlemen, was captured at sea by the English. Prompt complaints of
this breach of public faith having been made by the Scottish
government, King Richard the Second issued an order, dated 28th
October 1398, for them to be set at liberty, the ship and cargo
restored, and the damages made good. The following year he was one
of the Scottish commissioners appointed for receiving the oath of
King Richard for the fulfilment of the truce with Scotland; and,
some time after, he was present with the duke of Albany on the
borders, when he and the duke of Lancaster on the part of England,
prolonged the truce between the two countries. With a daughter,
Catherine, married to Sir William Baillie of Lamington, he had three
sons; viz. Sir James, his successor; David, ancestor of the
Hamiltons of Dalserf, Blackburn Green, &c.; and Thomas of Darngaber,
common ancestor of the Hamiltons of Raploch, Milburne, Stanehouse,
Neisland, Torrance, Aikenhead, Dechmont, Barnes, &c., as well as of
the earls of Clanbrassil, and other families of note in Ireland.
Thomas de Hamilton of Darngaber was ordered to be released out of
the Tower of London, having been for some time a prisoner of war.
The order is dated 12th April 1413, immediately after the
accession of King Henry the Fifth.
The eldest
son, Sir James Hamilton, and his next brother, David, obtained
letters of safe-conduct, dated 6th September 1413, from
King Henry the Fourth, to travel into England, as far as the castle
of Calthorpe in Lincolnshire. He was one of the hostages for James
the First, when he was allowed to return to Scotland in 1421, and in
1424 he was one of those who went to London as sureties for their
sovereign. He had five sons, namely, Sir James, his successor, first
Lord Hamilton; Alexander, ancestor of the Hamiltons of Silvertonhill
and Westport; John, designated of Whistleberry; Gavin, provost of
the collegiate church of Bothwell, ancestor of the Hamiltons of
Orbinstoun, progenitor of the Hamiltons of Dalzier, Haggs, Monkland,
Kilbrachmont, Parkhead, Longharmiston, Barr, &c.; and Robert.
James, the
eldest son, was created a lord of parliament by royal charter, on
July 3, 1445, under the title of Lord Hamilton of Cadyow. In 1449,
he was one of the commissioners appointed to meet on the borders and
renew the truce with England. In accordance with the practice of the
age amongst the great landed proprietors of forming collegiate
establishments, Lord Hamilton obtained from Pope Sextus V. authority
to erect the parich church of Hamilton (formery Cadyow) into a
collegiate church, and to add to it a provost and six prebendaries
to a former foundation of two chaplainries in the said church. A new
church having been built in 1732, the old Gothic fabric erected by
his lordship was pulled down, with the exception of one of the
aisles, which now covers the burying vault of the Hamilton family.
In 1450 he accompanied the earl of Douglas on his celebrated tour to
Rome, and after their return to Scotland the following year, he went
with him on a pilgrimage to St. Thomas’ tomb at Canterbury. He
joined the confederacy which Douglas had formed with the earls of
Moray, Crawford, and Ross, and in 1452, when King James invited that
powerful nobleman to the fatal conference in Stirling castle, he
accompanied him to the gate; but on attempting to follow Douglas
within it, he was rudely thrust back by the porter, and drawing his
sword to avenge the insult, his relation, Sir Alexander Livingston,
from within held him back with a long halbert till they got the gate
made fast. Afterwards, when he heard of the murder of Douglas, he
knew that his being denied entrance was done for his safety. A
friend in the castle, privily conveying a pair of spurs to Lord
Hamilton, (a hint for him to escapt,) gave the first intimation to
Douglas’ friends in the town of his fate. As he adhered to the
earl’s brother, Sir James Douglas, who succeeded as ninth and last
earl of Douglas, the king, in November 1454, after ravaging
Douglasdale, proceeded to Lord Hamilton’s lands in Avondale and
Clydesdale, which he also laid waste. He afterwards went to England
to solicit from King Henry the sixth assistance in men and money for
Douglas; but although he failed in his efforts as regarded the earl,
he obtained for himself a considerable sum of money with which, on
his return, he equipped a body of 300 horse and 300 foot. Soon
after, the earl, at the head of 40,000 men, took the field in open
rebellion against his sovereign. He encamped on the south bank of
the Carron, about three miles from the Torwood in Stirlingshire. The
king at the same time advanced from Stirling with an army of 30,000
men. At this crisis, Bishop Kennedy sent a private message to Lord
Hamilton, offering, in the king’s name, a free pardon for all that
was past, and great rewards in future, if he deserted Douglas, and
submitted to the government. Immediately repairing to that nobleman,
as his troops were drawing out from the camp, he represented to him
that as he never would probably again be at the head of a more
numerous and well-appointed force, so he never could have a better
opportunity of fighting the king to advantage; and added, that he
would find it extremely difficult to keep his troops longer
together. The earl haughtily replied, “That if he (Lord Hamilton)
was tired or afraid, he might be gone.” the same night, collecting
his kinsmen and followers, Lord Hamilton carried them over to the
royal camp, and was received by the king with open arms; but, for
the sale of apprearances, he was sent to Roslin castle for a few
days. In consequence of this and other desertions, the earl of
Douglas, with two hundred horse, all that remained to him, hastily
retired to the borders. The following year (1455) he renewed his
depredations on the estates of the royalists, but being overtaken at
Ancrum moor in Teviotdale, by a body of troops under the earl of
Angus and Lord Hamilton, he was routed with great loss, and driven
out of the kingdom. Lord Hamilton subsequenty obtained from his
grateful sovereign grants of extensive territorial possessions in
Lanarkshire and other counties, and among others, of the lands of
Fynnart in Renfrewshire, forfeited by the earl of Douglas. In1455 he
was appointed one of the commissioners on the part of Scotland to
treat of peace, with the Lord Montague and others, on the part of
England; for which purpose they met at York. He was employed again
in 1461, 1471, 1472, and in 1474, in which last year he was one of
the ambassadors extraordinary to the court of England. Two years
thereafter, he was one of the commissioners appointed to meet the
plenipotentiaries of England to prolong the truce, and to negociate
a marriage between the Princess Cicely, the daughter of Edward IV.,
and the duke of Rothesay, prince of Scotland, both of whom were then
in their childhood – a union that never took place. His name appears
frequently in the ‘Acta Dominorum concilii,’ as one of these judges,
during the years 1478 and 1479, in which latter year he died. He was
married, first, to Lady Euphemia Graham, eldest daughter of Patrick
earl of Strathearn, and widow of Arcibald, fifth earl of Douglas and
second duke of touraine; and, secondly, in 1474, to the Princess
Mary, eldest daughter of King James the Second, and widow of Thomas
Boyd, earl of Arran. By the former he had two daughters, Elizabgeth,
married to David, fourth earl of Crawford, created, by James III.,
duke of Montrose, and Agnes, married to Sir James Hamilton of
Preston; and by the latter he had a son, James, 2dLord Hamilton, and
a daughter, Elizabeth, married to Matthew, 2d earl of Lennox. He had
also several natural sons, but of these only are known James de
Hamilton, whose name appears in the succession charter of 1455; Sir
Patrick Hamilton of Kincavel, father of Patrick Hamilton, the
martyr; and John Hamilton of Broomhill. He had also a daughter,
married to Sir John Macfarlane, chief of the clan Macfarlane.
James,
second Lord Hamilton and first earl of Arran, was held in high
estimation by his cousin, King James IV., who made him one of his
privy councillors. In 1503 he was sent, with some other noblemen, to
the court of England, to negociate a marriage betwixt the Princess
Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII., and his royal relative,
which was concluded the following year. On this occasion King James
made him a grant of the island of Arran, at the same time creating
him earl thereof, by letters patent, dated 11th August
1503. He also gave him a charter or commission of justiciary with
the island. During the marriage rejoicings, Lord Hamilton and the
celebrated French knight, Anthony D’Arcy, better known by the name
of the Sieur de la Beauté, who was renowned all over Europe for his
martial prowess, tilted together in presence of the whole court, and
after several trials, neither could boast of any advantage over the
other, “only,” says Sir J. Balfour in his Annals, “the Lord
Hamilton, one day at Falkland, was judged to have the honour, which
La Beauté did impute to his own indisposition of body that day.” The
same year (1504) he was appointed to the command of a force of
10,000 men which James IV. Sent to the assistance of the king of
Denmark, when engaged in hostilities with the Swedes and Norwegians.
In 1507, with the archbishop of St. Andrews, he was sent as
ambassador to France. On his return through England, the following
year, accompanied by his natural brother, Sir Patrick Hamilton, he
was arrested in Kent by Vaughan, an officer of Henry the Eighth. He
was at first treated with distinction, bt, on his refusal to swear
fidelity to King Henry, he was committed to the custody of a guard.
The English monarch having sent an envoy to Scotland to vindicate
himself, King James desired this ambassador to inform his master
that he highly approved of the earl’s conduct in refusing to swear
fealty to England; adding, that to obtain the freedom of his
kinsman, he would delay the renewal of the league with France, if he
were released. In June following, the bishop of Moray repaired to
London again to solicit his libertion, but without effect; and it
appears that he was not set at liberty till towards the end of that
year. During his residence in England, his brother, Sir Patrick
(whom Andréof Toulouse, in his Diary for the year 1508, styles a
most famous knight,) vanquished, in single combat, an Irish
gentleman of eminent skill in arms. Soon after, the earl was
appointed to the command of a body of auxiliaries which was sent to
the assistance of Louis the Twelfth of France, who, for the
seasonable aid thus rendered him, settled an annual pension on the
earl for life, besides making him many valuable presents. On his
return to Scotland, he was driven by stress of weather into the port
of Carrickfergus in Ireland; but the inhabitants of that place
having maltreated his men, the earl landed a choice body of his
sailors, assaulted and stormed the town, and gave it up to be
plundered.
During his
absence on this expedition, James the Fourth, with the flower of his
obility, had been slain at Flodden, and the queen-mother had been
declared regent of the kingdom. On her resignation of that office,
soon after, an assembly of the estates was held at Perth to elect a
new regent, when the voices were much divided between the duke of
Albany, then in France, and the earl of Arran. Through the
influence, however, of Elphinston, bishop of Aberdeen, and Lord
Home, the former was elected, and Sir Patrick Hamilton and the Lyon
King at arms sent to France, to notify the election to him. In 1515,
after Albany had taken prisoner Lord Home, whose overgrown power and
turbulent disposition had become dangerous to the state, he
committed him to the custody of the earl of Arran, governor of the
castle of Edinburgh. The latter, who disliked the regent, was easily
persuaded by Home to retire with him to the borders, where they
commenced hostilities, on which he was required to surrender himself
within fifteen days, to avoid being proclaimed a rebel as Home and
his brother had been. At the same time, the regent, at the head of a
select body of troops, and a small train of artillery, proceeded to
invest the castle of Cadyow, the earl’s principal stronghold, and
required its immediate surrender. His mother, the Princess Mary,
aunt of Albany, resided at that time in Cadyow castle, and on her
solicitation the regent consented to pardon Arran, on his returning
to his duty, which he accordingly did. In the following year, at the
instigation of the English king, Arran, who still aimed at the
regency, associated with the earls of Glencairn, Lennox, and the
majority of the noblemen and gentlemen of the west, and seized the
royal magazines at Glasgow. They also sent a body of troops to take
possession of some French ships, with supplies of arms and
ammunition for Albany, which had arrived in the Clyde. The vessels,
however, had sailed, but a quantity of gunpowder and other
ammunition landed from them, they brought to Glasgow, where, lest it
might fall into the hands of their enemies, the powder was thrown
into a draw-well. The earl of Arran, at the same tie, by a stratagem
made himself master of the castle of Dumbarton, expelling Lord
Erskine, the governor. An accommodation, however, between the regent
and the leaders of the malcontents was soon brought about, chiefly
through the means of Forman, archbishop of Glasgow. In 1517, on
Albany’s departure for France, Arran was constituted
lieutenant-general and one of the lords of the regency, and, on the
murder of the Sieur de la Beauté, warden of the marches. In the
latter capacity he committed to prison Sir George Douglas, the
brother of Angus, and Mark Ker, for some misdemeanor, and took
possession of the castles of Hume, Wedderburne, and Langton. By the
members of the regency he had been elected their president, but was,
upon all occasions, opposed by the earl of Angus. Having, in 1519,
while the plague raged at Edinburg, conveyed the young king, for
greater security, to the castle of Dalkeith, he was, on his return
to Edinburgh, denied entrance by the citizens, on the instigation of
Angus, and the gates shut against him. His followers and those of
Angus had a fierce encounter on the High Street of Edinburgh, 30th
April 1520, when several were slain on both sides, and the Hamilton
party obliged to disperse. Arran himself and his son, Sir James
Hamilton, fighting their way through the melee, retired down a wynd
on the north side of the High Street, where, finding a coal-horse
standing, they threw off his burden, and rode through the North
Loch, at a shallow place, no one thinking of pursuing them that way.
Among those slain were Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincavel, already
mentioned, and Sir James Hamilton, younger of Preston. In 1523 Arran
joined the queen dowager in opposing the regent, and after the final
retirement of the latter to France the following year, he had again
the chief direction of affairs under the king. In 1526, however, on
Angus obtaining the superiority, he retired for a time from court to
his estates, but on the 4th September of that year, he
commanded the royal ary against his nephew, the earl of Lennox, at
the battle near Linlithgow, where the latter was slain by Sir James
Hamilton of Finnart. On the forfeiture of Angus he had a charter of
the lordship of Bothwell, 16th November 1528. He died
before 21st July 1529. He married, first, Beatrix,
daughter of John, Lord Drummond, by whom he had a daughter, married
to Andrew Stewart., Lord Evandale and Ochiltree, whose grandson was
the notorious favourite of James the Sixth, Captain James Stewart,
the titular earl of Arran. He married, secondy, Elizabeth, sister of
Alexander Lord Home, by whom he had no issue. It being found that
this lady’s former husband, Sir Thomas Hay, of the family of Yester,
who had gone abroad and was supposed to be dead, was alive, a
sentence of divorce was pronounced in 1513. He married, thirdly,
Janet, daughter of Sir David Bethune of Creich, comptroller of
Scotland, niece of Cardinal Bethune, and widow of Sir Thomas
Livingston of Easter Wemyss, and by her had, with four daughters,
two sons, namely, James, second earl of Arran, regent of Scotland
and duke of Chatelherault, of whom a memoir is given afterwards, and
Gavin. He had also four natural sons and one natural daughter. The
sons were, Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, already mentioned,
ancestor of the Hamiltons of Evandale, Crawfordjohn, Gilkerscleugh,
&c.; sir John Hamilton of Clydesdale, ancestor of the Hamiltons of
Samuelston; James Hamilton of Parkhill; and John, archbishop of St.
Andrews, executed at Stirling 1st April, 1570. According
to Knox and Buchanan, however, the paternity of the last was
doubtful.
James,
second earl of Arran, and duke of Chatelherault, married Lady
Margaret Douglas, eldest daughter of the third earl of Morton, and
by her had, with four daughters, four sons, namely, James, third
earl of Arran; John, Marquis of Hamilton; Lord David Hamilton, who
died without issue in March 1611; and Lord Claud, ancestor of thte
earls of Abercorn. (Marquises of Abercorn, peerage of Great Britain,
1790).
James,
third earl of Arran, succeeded his father in 1575. The dukedom of
Chatelherault, having been resumed by the crown of France, did not
descend to him. He was in the castle of St. Andrews when Cardinal
Bethune was assassinated in 1546, and was detained prisoner there by
the conspirators. As his father was the presumptive heir to the
crown, on the 14th August 1546, the Estates of the
kingdom passed an act declaring him to be secluded from the
succession as long as he happened to be in the hands of those that
committed the slaughter of the cardinal, or of any enemies of the
realm. He was released on the surrender of the conspirators to the
French, and in 1555, he went over to France, where he obtained the
command of the Scottish guards. Having become a convert to the
reformed doctrines, a plot against his life was formed by the
princes of Lorraine, but entertaining suspicions of the design from
some expressions dropped by the cardinal of Lorraine, he hastily
quitted France in 1559, and on his way home visited the court of
Queen Elizabeth. In 1560, the Scottish Estates proposed the earl of
Arran as a husband to that princess, but with great professions of
regard she declined the alliance. The following year, on the arrival
from France of his own sovereign, Queen Mary, he openly aspired to
her hand, and on her part she showed great partiality for him, but
by his most imprudently opposing the exercise of her religion, he
forfeited her favour altogether. His love, inflamed by
disappointment, gradually undermined his reason, and he was
declared, by a cognition of inquest, to be insane. When his
brothers, Lord John and Lord Claud Hamilton were attainted in 1579,
the earl, though incapable, from his situation, of committing any
crime, was involved, by a shameful abuse of law, in the common ruyin
of his house. He had continued to live secluded at the castle of
Craignethan, under the care of some faithful servants of the family,
but a party being sent to demand the surrender of that fortress, his
servants, after making what defence they could, were forced to
yield, and the earl, with his aged mother, the duchess of
Chatelherault, sent to Linlithgow and placed under the custody of
one Captain Lambie, the same miscreant who insulted Queen Mary on
her surrender at Carberry Hill, a creature of Morton’s, and a most
inveterate enemy of the house of Hamilton. Captain James Stewart,
grandson of Lady Margaret Hamilton, already mentioned, was appointed
his tutor, and afterwards, in 1581, under pretence that he was the
lawful heir of the family, he was created earl of Arran, which title
he held, along with the estates of the Hamilton family, until his
downfall in 1585, when they were restored to the rightful owner.
James Hamilton, third earl of Arran, died without issue in March
1609, and was succeeded by his nephew, James, second marquis of
Hamilton.
Lord John,
the second son of the regent duke of Chatelherault, and first
marquis of Hamilton, born in 1532, had the commendatory of the rich
abbey of Aberbrothwick conferred on him in 1541. When Queen Mar was
imprisoned in 1567, he entered into an association for endeavouring
to procure her liberty; and on her escape from Lochleven castle in
May of the following year, she hastened to Hamilton, where, in a few
days, she was joined by a splendid train of nobles, accompanied by
such numbers of followers as formed an army of 6,000 men, But the
defeat at Langside, the same month, disconcerted all the measures of
her friends. On the death of his father in 1575, the family estates
devolved on Lord John. His lordship and his brother, Lord Claud,
commendator of Paisley, suspected of being accessory to the murder
of the regents Moray and Lennox, had been included in a general bill
of attainder on that account, and in 1579, at the instigation of the
regent Morton, it was resolved, without trial or the examination of
any witnesses, to put it in force against them. Timely information
having reached the brothers of their dander, they made their escape,
but the castle of Cadyow was besieged and taken, and completely
demolished. The garrison, with their hands tied behind their backs,
were led prisoners t Stirling, where their captain, Arthur Hamilton
of Merritoun, was publicly executed. The whole of the Hamilton
estates were confiscated, and the most cruel and oppressive
proceedings directed against almost all the gentlemen of the name, a
number of whom fled from their homes. Lord John Hamilton, disguised
as a seaman, retired to France, where he was kindly received by the
archbishop of Glasgow, ambassador at the French court for Queen
Mary. His refusal to change his religion lost him the favour of that
bigoted court, on which he returned to England, and joined his
brother Lord Claud, who had found a secure asylum at Widdrington, in
the north of England, with a relation of the earl of Northumberland.
In 1585, they returned to Scotland, with the other exiled nobles,
and being admitted into King James’ presence at Stirling, Lord John
Hamilton, in name of the others, said, “That they were come, in all
humility, to beg his majesty’s love and favour.” The king answered,
“My lord, I did never see you before, and must confess that of al
this company you have been most wronged. You were a faithful servant
to my mother in my minority, and, when I understood not, as I do
now, the estate of things, hardly used.” They were immediately
restored to their estates and honours, and in a parliament held at
Linlithgow in December of the same year, an act of oblivion for all
that was past, was solemnly ratified. Lord John was sworn a privy
councillor and made governor of Dumbarton castle. In 1587, while the
unfortunate Queen Mary was under sentence of death, she took a ring
from her finger, which she ordered one of her attendants to deiver
to Lord John Hamilton, and tell him it was all that she had left to
witness her great sence of his family’s constant fidelity to her,
and desired that it should always be kept in the family, as a
lasting evidence of her regard towards them. This ring is still
preserved in the charter-room at Hamilton palace. In 1589, when the
king went to Denmark to bring home his young queen, the Princess
Anne, he nominated Lord John Hamilton lieutenant of the three
wardenries of the marches, and of the whole of the south of
Scotland. The queen, on her arrival, was crowned, with great pomp,
in the abbey church of Holyrood, by the earl of Lennox and Lord
John.
In 1593,
he accompanied the king in his expedition to the north against the
popish lords, after the battle of Glenlivet. On this occasion he
claimed the leading of the vanguard, which the earl of Angus
opposed, alleging that this honour, of right, belonged to him, being
the ancient privilege of the Douglases. The king decided that Lord
John should have the command at this time, but which should not in
any manner impugn the rights and privileges of the house of Douglas.
Lord John sat as one of the jury upon the trial of the earls of
Huntly, Bothwell, and Crawford, when they were found guilty, and
sent to separate prisons. Calderwood has recorded a curious
conversation betwixt the king and Lord John, on the subject of the
excommunication of the popish lords. Having failed in his efforts
with the Edinburgh clergy to prevent the intimation of the sentence
in that city, James paid a visit to Hamilton palace, for the purpose
of sounding that nobleman in the matter. “You see, my lord,” he
said, “how I am used, and have no man in whom I may trust more than
in Huntly. If I receive him, the ministers will cry out that I am an
apostate from the religion, – if not, I am left desolate.” “If he
and the rest be not enemies to the religion,” replied his lordship,
“you may receive them, – if otherwise, not.” “I cannot tell,” said
his majesty, “what to make of that, – but the ministers hold them
for enemies. Always I would think it good that they enjoyed liberty
of conscience.” Upon this Lord Hailton exclaimed, “Sir, then we are
all gone! Then we are all gone! Then we are all gone! If there were
no more to withstand them than I, I will withstand.” The king,
perceiving his servants approach, put an end to the conversation by
saying, with a smile, “My lord, I did this to try your mind.” In
1596, when the clergy, preaching against the king’s government and
measures, forced him to leave Edinburgh, Bruce and Balcanquhal, two
of their number, in name of the others, invited Lord John, then at
Hamilton, to repair to Edinburgh and place himself at their head.
Hastening to the king at Linlithgow, he placed the letter in his
hands. He was created Marquis of Hamilton at Holyroodhouse 17th
April 1599. So great was King James’ regard for him that he
requested him to stand godfather to one of his children, and he
often visited him at Hamilton. He died 12th April, 1604,
in his 72d year. He married Margaret, only daughter of the eighth
Lord Glammis, widow of the fourth earl of Cassillis, and by this
lady, who survived him many years, he had two sons, Edward, who died
young, and James, second marquis of Hamilton; and one daughter, Lady
Margaret, the wife of the eighth Lord Maxwell. He had a natural son,
Sir John Hamilton of Lettrick, father of the first Lord Bargeny, and
a natural daughter, Jean, who was contracted in marriage to Sir
Umfra Colquhoun of Luss.
James,
second marquis of Hamilton, born in 1589, succeeded his father in
1604, and his uncle, the earl of Arran, in May 1609, in his estates
and in the hereditary office of sheriff of Lanarkshire. Besides
being made one of the gentlemen of the king’s bedchamber, he was on
14th January 1613, appointed one of the lords of the
privy council, and lord steward of the household; and on 16th
June 1619, he was created a peer of England by the title of Earl of
Cambridge and Lord Innerdale, titles that had never before been
converred on any but such as were of the blood royal. And here it
becomes necessar to correct an “historical error” that is almost
universaly held, namely, that after the present royal family the
house of Hamilton is heir to the Scottish crown, and of consequence
to the throne of Great Britain, as by the act of Union it is for
ever provided that whosoever is heir to the throne of Scotland shall
be heir also to the throne of the United Kingdom, and vice versa.
During the period of nearly a century (previous to the birth of
children of the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth, which took place
in 1613) the head of the Hamilton family was undoubtedly the next
heir to the Scottish crown. As such, in the year 1542, an act was
passed in the Estates of Scotland, by which “all the lordis
sperituale, temporale, and commissaris of burrowis, representand the
thre estatis of parliament, declarit and declaris James, earle of
Arrane, Lord Hailton (ancestor of the duke of Hamilton) second
persoun of this realme, and narrest to succede to the crown
of the samin, falyeing of our suirane lady (Queen Mary) and the
barnis lauchfullie to be gotten of hir body.” And again, in 1546, as
already stated, the three estates solemnly recognised the eldest son
of the earl of Arran as “the third persoun of the realm,” and
acknowledged “all his rychtis of successionis alsweill of the crowne
as of others.” The head of the house of Hamilton remained in this
distinguished position of “second person of the realm,” or heir
presumptive to the crown, until the birth of King James the Sixth
interposed a third person between him and the throne. After the
dethronement of Queen Mary, the house of Hamilton again reverted to
its pre-eminence of being next heir to the crown, and held that high
position until the numerous issue of King James the Sixth removed
them to a distance in the order of succession. By the act of Union,
confirming
previous acts of succession and settlement of the crown, it is
enacted “that the succession of the monarchy of Great Britain, after
Queen Anne, and in default of issue of her majesty, be, and remain,
and continue, to the most excellent Princess Sophia, (the daughter
of the Princess Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia, daughter of King James
the Sixth of Scotland), and the heirs of her body, being Protestats.”
It is under the provisions of this act that Queen Victoria and her
royal family, as heirs of King George the First, the eldest son of
the Princess Sophia, now hold the crown of the United Kingdom, and
under the same act, in the event of the failure of the present royal
family, the succession to the crown would open up to the next
immediate heirs descended of the body of the Princess Sophia. These
are very numerous. With every day, therefore, the “historical error”
or popular fallacy, of representing the noble house of Hamilton as
“after the royal family, heir to the Scottish crown,” becomes
greater and greater. Their boarst is that they once were the
presumptive heirs to the ancient kingdom of Scotland, and that they
still inherit the royal blood of its long line of sovereigns.
The second
marquis of Hamilton, chosen a knight of the Garter at Whitehall, 9th
February 1621, was high commissioner to the Scottish parliament the
same year, in which the five articles of Perth, so obnoxious to the
presbyterian party, were ratified by a majority of 27. He died at
Whitehall, London, 2d March 1625, in his 36th year, a few
days before King James. As he was sais to have been poisoned by the
duke of Buckingham, with whom he had some difference, three medical
men were appointed to examine his body. Two of them declared that he
had not been poisoned, but the third, Dr. Eglisham, affirmed that he
had, and hesitated not to impute the crime to Buckingham. He was
obliged in consequence to leave England, when he retired to
Flanders, where he published his opinions in the shape of a
pamphlet. The marquis married Lady Anne Cunninghame, fourth daughter
of the seventh earl of Glencairn. Of a firm and masculine spirit,
this lady, who long survived her husband, distinguished herself on
the side of the Covenanters, her father’s family having ever been
warm friends of the presbyterian interest. In 1633, when her son
conducted the English fleet to the forth, to overawe the
Covenanters, she appeared among them on the shore at Leith, and the
head of a troop of horse, and drawing a pistol from her saddlebow,
declared she would be the first to shoot her son, should he presume
to land and attack his countrymen and his country. With three
daughters, the second marquis had two sons, James, third marquis,
and first duke of Hamilton, and William, earl of Lanark, second duke
of Hamilton.
_____
HAMILTON, Duke
of, a title in the peerage of Scotland, conferred, with that of
marquis of Clydesdale, in 1643, on James, earl of Arran, the elder
son of the second marquis of Hamilton, and now held by the Douglas
family, through the marriage of Anne, duchess of Hamilton, niece and
successor of the second duke, with the earl of Selkirk. Of the first
duke of Hamilton, a memoir is afterwards given. His grace having
only surviving daughters, was succeeded by his brother, William,
earl of Lanark.
William,
second duke of Hamilton, was born at Hamilton, December 14, 1616,
and received his education at the university of Glasgow. He
afterwards travelled on the Continent, and resided for some time at
the French court. On his return, in 1637, he became a great
favourite with Charles the First and his queen. On the last day of
March 1639, he was created a Scottish peer by the titles of earl of
Lanark, Lord Machanshyre and Polmont, and in 1640 was made secretary
of state for Scotland. In 1644, he was, by the king’s order,
arrested with his brother the duke, at Oxford, on the false
representation of their enemies. The duke was sent prisoner first to
Pendennis castle in Cornwall, and afterwards to St. Michael’s Mount,
where, two years after, he was set at liberty by some of the
parliament forces. The earl of Lanark, who was to be sent to Ludlow
castle in Wales, made his escape, and went to London, whence he
returned to Scotland, where he made it clearly appear that,
notwithstanding the hard usage he had experienced, he continued as
steadfast to the cause of the king as ever. In 1646, when the king
put himself into the hands of the Scottish army at Newcastle, he was
one of the commissioners sent by the Scots Estates to confer with
his majesty, when he used his utmost endeavours to induce Charles to
agree to the terms submitted to him, but in vain. When his brother
marched into England in 1648, he was appointed commander-in-chief of
the forces in Scotland. Being soon afterwards deprived, by the act
of Classes, of all his public employments for his adherence to “the
Engagement,” he retired to Holland; but he had scarcely arrived
there, when he received the sad intelligence of the execution of his
royal master, and soon after of that of his brother, whom he
succeeded in his titles and estates. In 1650 he accompanied Charles
the Second to Scotland; but was excluded by parliament from the
king’s councils, and not suffered to remain with his majesty. He
retired in consequence to the island of Arran, where he remained
till the end of January 1651, when he was permitted to go to court,
and was received with much distinction by the king.
When the
march into England was decided upon, the duke obtained liberty to
raise a troop of horse, and he soon collected about a hundred men.
He afterwards raised seven other troops, who joined the royal army
at Moffat, previously to its entering England, which it did by the
western marches. At Warrington bridge the royalists defeated General
Lambert, who had been sent against them. The duke accompanied the
king on the whole march until they came to Worcester. Here they
found themselves surrounded by an army of 30,000 men, commanded by
Cromwell in person, who, attacking the royal forces, met with little
resistance, except from General Middleton and the duke of Hamilton.
The duke behaved with uncommon bravery, and charged repeatedly at
the head of his regiment; but he was at last wounded and taken
prisoner. Of this wound he died, September 12, 1651, nine days after
the battle; and his remains were interred in the cathedral church of
Worcester.
He had
married in 1638, Lady Elizabeth Maxwell, eldest daughter and
coheiress of James, earl of Dirleton, and by her had, James, Lord
Polmont, who died an infant, and five daughters, one of whom died
young. The dukedom of Hamilton, with the titles and estates,
devolved on his niece, Anne, duchess of Hamilton. By Cromwell’s act
of grace and pardon, 1654, William duke of Hamilton, deceased, was
excepted from all benefit thereof, and his estates were forfeited,
reserving out of them £400 a-year to his duchess, during her life,
and after her death £100 to each of his surviving daughters. The
English titles of earl of Cambridge and Lord Innerdale, granted to
his father, the second marquis, in 1619, with limitation to the
heirs male of his body, became extinct with him; but the Scottish
honours of the same, included in the patent of the dukedom granted
to his brother in 1643, descended to his niece along with the other
titles.
Anne,
duchess of Hamilton, eldest surviving daughter of James, first duke
of Hamilton, was born about 1636. She married Lord William Douglas,
eldest son of William, first marquis of Douglas, born 24th
December 1634, and created earl of Selkirk, Lord Daer and
Shortcleugh, 4th August, 1646. He was fined £1,000 by
Cromwell’s act of grace and pardon of 1651. On the restoration, in
consequence of a petition from the duchess, he was created duke of
Hamilton for life, 12th October, 1660, and at the same
time sworn a privy councillor. His prudent management enabled him in
the course of a few years to pay off the accumulated debts with
which the Hamilton family were at that time burdened; and in the
parliament of 1673, he distinguished himself by his opposition to
Lauderdale. He and the other leaders of his party went to London, to
represent their grievances to the king, and received from him full
assurances of redress, but on their return to Scotland, they found
that the parliament was dissolved. This excited such popular
discontent that the assassination of Lauderdale was contemplated,
and only averted by the advice of the duke of Hamilton. He was again
invited to court with his friends, when they requested a hearing
from the king, but were desired to present their complaints in
writing, which they declined, knowing well that the most cautious
statement of grievances it was possible to frame would to protect
them from the statute of leasing-making. In the following year
Lauderdale’s opponents were displaced from council, with the
exception of the duke of Hamilton, who, however, was removed in
1676, for opposing the sentence against Baillie of Jerviswood. In
1678, the duke and thirteen other peers repaired to London, to
complain to the king of Lauderdale’s arbitrary proceedings, but as
they had left Scotland without permission, an audience was refused.
They were at length heard in presence of the cabinet council, and
being again required to produce their complaints against Lauderdale
in writing, which they declined to do without a previous indemnity,
the king declared his full approbation of Lauderdale’s proceedings.
On the breaking out of the insurrection in Scotland in 1679, the
duke and the Scottish lords then in London, generously offered to
suppress it, without arms or the shedding of blood, if the
grievances of the people were redressed, but their assistance was
rejected. They afterwards obtained an audience, and were fully heard
on their complaints against Lauderdale, but in vain.
In 1692,
after the fall of that unprincipled minister, his grace was invested
with the order of the Garter; and on the accession of James the
Seventh, he was sworn a privy councillor of Scotland, and appointed
one of the commissioners of the Treasury. He was constituted an
extraordinary lord of session, 26th March 1686, and sworn
a member of the English privy council, 14th April 1687.
On the arrival of the prince of Orange in London the following year,
he was elected president at a meeting of the Scottish nobility and
gentry then in that city, when they framed an address, requesting
the prince to assume the government and call a convention of the
Estates at Edinburgh. This convention was accordingly held 14th
March 1689. The duke was chosen president of the meeting which
declared the throne vacant, and tendered the crown to King William
and Queen Mary. His grace was constituted lord high commissioner to
King William’s first parliament in the following June, and was also
president of the council and high admiral of Scotland. He was again
high commissioner to the parliament which met 18th April
1693, and on 19th December following re-appointed an
extraordinary lord of session. He died at Holyroodhouse, 18th
April 1694, in his 60th year. His wife, Anne, duchess of
Hamilton, survived him till 1717. She resigned her titles in favour
of her eldest son, the earl of Arran, who was accordingly created
duke of Hamilton, with the original precedency. They had, with four
daughters, seven sons, namely, James, fourth duke of Hamilton; Lord
William, who died in France, without issue; Lord Charles, earl of
Selkirk (See SELKIRK, earl of); Lord John, earl of Ruglen (see
RUGLEN, earl of); Lord George, earl of Orkney (see ORKNEY, earl of);
Lord Basin (for whom see SELKIRK, earl of); and Lord Archibald. The
latter, Lord Archibald Hamilton of Riccarton and Pardovan, a
distinguished naval office, master and one of the commissioners of
Greenwith Hospital, who died 5th April 1754, was father
of the Right Hon. Sir William Hamilton, long British ambassador at
Naples, of whom a memoir is afterwards given.
Of James,
fourth duke of Hamilton, and first duke of Brandon in the peerage of
the United Kingdom, a memoir is afterwards given. He was twice
married, and with six daughters, had three sons. The latter, with
four of the daughters, he had by his second wife. The sons were,
James, fifth duke; Lord William, M.P. for Lanarkshire, who died in
July 1734; and Lord Anne, so called after Queen Anne, his godmother,
an ensign in the army, who died in France in December 1748. By Lady
Barbara Fitzroy, third daughter of Charles the Second and the
duchess of Cleveland, his grace, then earl of Arran, had a natural
son, Charles Hamilton, born at Cleveland House, 30th
March 1691, during his father’s confinement in the Tower, as
afterwards related. Incensed at the discovery of this intrigue, the
queen, and the earl’s father, the duke of Hamilton, made the retreat
of Lady Barbara to the Continent the principal condition of his
release from the Tower. She accordingly withdrew to the nunnery of
Pontoise, where she died. Her son was reared at Chiswick by his
grandmother the duchess of Cleveland, and afterwards sent to France,
where his education was intrusted to the earl of Middleton,
secretary of state to the exiled monarch. He was held in great
consideration by the court of St. Germains, where he was styled
count of Arran. After the death of his father, who was killed in a
duel with Lord Mohun, in 1712, he went to Antwerp, and sent a
challenge to General Macartney, Mohun’s second, but it was not
accepted. He subsequently went to Switzerland, where he divided his
time betwixt the pursuits of alchemy, and a friendly intercourse
with the Earl Marischal of Scotland, then in exile. He was the
author of ‘Transactions during the reign of Queen Anne, from the
union to the death of that princess,’ published by his son at London
in one volume, 1790, 8vo. He died at Paris, 13th August,
1754, aged 64, and was buried at Montmartre. He had married in 1737
Antoinette Courtney of Archambaud, by whom he had an only child,
Charles Hamilton, born at Edinburgh 16th July, 1738,
captain in the service of the East India Company, and died at
Holyroodhouse 9th April 1800, aged 62. He was the author
of ‘The Patriot; a Tragedy, altered from the Italian of Metastasio,’
London, 1784, 8vo; ‘An Historical Relation of the Origin, Progress,
and Final Dissolution of the Government of the Rokilla Afghans, in
the Northern Provinces of Hindostan, compiled from a Persian MS. And
other original papers,’ Lond. 1787, 8vo; ‘Hedaya, or Guide; a
Commentary on the Mussulman Laws, translated by order of the
Governor-General and Council of Bengal,’ London, 1791, 4 vols. 4to.
James,
fifth duke of Hamilton, and second duke of Brandon, born about 1702,
succeeded his father when he was only 10 years old. He was installed
a knight of the Thistle at Holyroodhouse 31st October
1726, and appointed in 1727 one of the lords of the bedchamber to
King George the Second; but resigned that office in 1733, not
approving of the measures of Sir Robert Walpole’s administration. At
the general election in 1734, he was a candidate to represent the
Scottish peerage, in opposition to the court list, and died at Bath
9th March 1743, in his 41st year. He was
thrice married; first, to Lady Anne Cochrane, eldest of the three
beautiful daughters of John fourth earl of Dundonald; secondly, to
Elizabeth, fourth daughter of Thomas Strangeways of Melbury Sampford,
Dorsetshire; and, thirdly, to Anne, daughter and co-heir of Edward
Spenser of Redlesham in Suffolk. By his first duchess he had a son,
James, sixth duke of Hamilton, and by his third, a daughter, Anne,
countess of Donegal, and two sons, Archibald, ninth duke of
Hamilton, and Lord Spencer Hamilton, colonel in the guards and one
of the gentlemen of the bedchamber to the prince of Wales, who died
20th March 1791, in his 49th year.
James,
sixth duke of Hamilton, and third duke of Brandon, born in 1724,
succeeded his father in 1743, and was invested with the order of the
thistle, 14th March 1755. He died of inflammation in the
chest, caught in hunting, after a few days’ illness, at Great Tew in
Oxfordshire, on 18th January 1758, in his 34th
year. He married Elizabeth, second daughter of John Gunning of
Castle Coote, in the county of Roscommon, Ireland, one of the three
beautiful Misses Gunning, and by her had a daughter, Lady Elizabeth,
countess of Derby; James-George, seventh duke of Hamilton; and
Douglas, eighth duke. The widowed duchess married, secondly, 3d
March 1759, John, fifth duke of Argyle, and was created a peeress of
Great Britain, 4th May 1766, by the title of Baroness
Hamilton of Hameldon, in the count of Leicester, with the dignity of
Baron Hamilton to the heirs male of her body. She died in 1790.
James-George, seventh duke of Hamilton, and fourth duke of Brandon,
born at Holyroodhouse, 18th February 1755, succeeded his
father when only three years old. On the death of Archibald, duke of
Douglas, in 1761, he became the male representative and chief of the
illustrious house of Douglas, and succeeded to the titles of marquis
of Douglas, earl of Angus, and lord of Abernethy and Jedburgh
Forest. His guardians having asserted his right to the Douglas
estates as male representative of that family, under the belief that
Mr. Douglas, born at Paris, son and heir of Lady Jane Stewart,
sister of the last duke of Douglas, was a supposititious child, the
protracted lawsuit, known as “the great Douglas cause,” was the
consequence. In Paris it was decided in favour of the duke of
Hamilton, and the claim was again sustained by the court of session
in Scotland; but on appeal to the House of Lords, it was ultimately
decided in favour of Mr. Douglas, afterwards created a peer of the
United Kingdom by the title of Lord Douglas of Douglas. Outgrowing
his strength, the duke of Hamilton died at Hamilton palace, 7th
July 1769, in his 15th year. On his monument in the
family cemetery, is a poetical inscription by Dr. Moore, (father of
Sir John Moore,) who had attended his grace to the Continent, and
resided with him.
Douglas,
eighth duke of Hamilton, and fifth duke of Brandon, born 24th
July 1756, succeeded his brother in 1769. In his travels on the
Continent he was attended by Dr. Moore, whose work, in four volumes,
8vo, entitled ‘A View of Society and Manners in France and Italy,’
contains an account of their excursion. The duke came of age in
1777, when he raised the 82d regiment of foot, which highly
distinguished itself in the American war, and in which he accepted a
captain’s commission, but resigned it in 1779. He had a grant of the
offices of keeper of the palace of Linlithgow and castle of
Blackness 25th November 1777, and a further grant of the
same, with power to appoint deputies, 10th January, 1778.
Having presented a petition to the king for a summons to parliament
as duke of Brandon, his majesty, after a reference to the House of
Lords, and the opinion of the twelve judges being taken that the 23d
article of the Union did not debar the creation of peers of Scotland
peers of Great Britain, on 11th June, 1782, caused a
summons to be issued accordingly, and his grace, as duke of Brandon,
took his seat in the house of peers, of which his family had been
for so many years deprived. In 1785, he moved the address of thanks
for the king’s speech, and the following year he was invested with
the order of the Thistle. In 1798 he was appointed colonel of the
militia and lord-lieutenant of the county of Lanark. He died 2d
August 1799, in his 44th year. He had married Elizabeth
Anne, sister of Peter, Lord Gwydir, but having no issue by her, was
succeeded by his uncle, Lord Archibald Hamilton, in al his titles,
except that of Lord Hamilton of Hameldon in Leicestershire, which in
right of his mother went to his brother uterine the marquis of Lorn,
afterwards duke of Argyle.
Archibald,
ninth duke of Hamilton, and sixth duke of Brandon, born 15th
July 1740, inherited through his mother and grandmother, extensive
property in the county of Suffolk, and in Lancashire, and
Staffordshire. At the general election of 1768, he was elected M.P.
for the county of Lancaster, but vacated his seat in 1772. He died
16th February 1819. He had married in 1765, Lady Harriet
Stewart, 5th daughter of 6th earl of Galloway,
and by her, who died in 1788, before her husband’s accession to the
ducal titles, he had 3 daughters and 2 sons; Alexander tenth duke,
and Lord Archibald Hamilton.
The
latter, born March 16, 1769, distinguished himself as a political
reformer and as an active and eloquent public speaker. Chosen, in
1802 M.P. for Lanarkshire, he continued to represent that county
till his death, taking a prominent part against the Pitt, Addington,
and other Tory governments. In 1804 he published a pamphlet entitled
‘thoughts on the Formation of the late and Present Administrations,’
contending for a ministry on a broad and firm basis, and examining
how far that of Mr. Pitt answered the idea. He invariably
endeavoured to correct abuses, and is exertions in the cause of
burgh reform, made his name in his time very popular in Scotland. He
died unmarried Aug. 28, 1827. His sister, Lady Anne Hamilton, eldest
daughter of the 9th duke, was the confidential friend and
companion of Queen Caroline, wife of George IV., and enjoyed no
small amount of popularity for her adherence to that unfortunate
princess. She died Oct. 10, 1846. Lady Charlotte, the next daughter,
became duchess of Somerset, and died June 10, 1827. Lady Susan, the
youngest, married her cousin, the earl of Dunmore, and died May 24,
1846.
Alexander,
10th duke of Hamilton, and 7th of Brandon, the
elder son of the 9th duke, born Oct. 3, 1767, in early
life spent many years in Italy, where he acquired considerable taste
in the fine arts. In 1801 he returned home, and the following year
he was appointed colonel of the Royal Lanarkshire militia, and lord
lieutenant of that county. Till he reached the advanced age of
fifty-two, he bore the courtesy title of marquis of Douglas and
Clydesdale. At the general election of 1803 he was electee M.P. for
Lancaster, but on 28th May 1806, he was appointed British
ambassador at St. Petersburg, under the administration of Charles
James Fox, then for a short time prime minister. On this occasion he
was sworn a member of the privy council. On 4th November
of the same year he was summoned by writ to the house of peers as
Baron Dutton in Cheshire, one of his father’s titles. In 1807 the
Whig administration went out of office on the Roman Catholic
question, when he resigned the Russian embassy, and after having
made an excursion through great part of Russia and Poland, he
returned to Scotland the following year. In 1819 he succeeded his
father. His energies after this period were devoted principally to
the improvement of his estates, and the embellishment of his
princely palace of Hamilton. Besides inheriting two dukedoms, a
Scottish and an English one, he assumed the title of duke of
Chatelherault in France. At the coronations of William IV. And Queen
Victoria, he officiated as high steward. In 1836 he was elected a
knight of the Garter. He was also a fellow of the royal society, and
of the antiquarian society, and president of the royal society of
Scotland. He likewise held two marquisates, three earldoms, and
eight baronies. He never took any prominent part in politics, but
generally gave his votes to the Whig party. A trait of private
generosity is related of him which was highly honourable to his
character. His father, at his death, had left all his personal
property to his second youngest daughter, the duchess of Somerset,
to the exclusion of Lord Archibald Hamilton. The duke, on being
informed of this, immediately presented his brother with £20,000.
His grace died in 1852, aged 85. On April 26, 1810, when 43 years of
age, he married Susan Euphemia, youngest daughter of Mr. William
Beckford of Fonthill Abbey, author of ‘Vathek,’ and grand-daughter
of the celebrated London alderman of that name. Her grandmother was
Lady Margaret Gordon, of the Aboyne family, and her mother was a
Hamilton. The issue of this marriage was a son, the 11th
duke, and a daughter, Lady Susan Harriet Catherine, who was married
Nov. 27, 1832, to the earl of Lincoln (5th duke of
Newcastle), to whom she had 4 sons and 1 daughter, but was divorced
in 1850.
William
Alexander Anthony Archibald, 11th duke of Hamilton and 8th
of Brandon, born Feb. 15, 1811, studied at Oxford; B.A. 1832. He
married in 1843 the princess Mary Amelia Elizabeth Caroline (born
1818), daughter of the grand duke of Baden, and cousin-german of
Napoleon III., emperor of the French; issue, 2 sons and a daughter,
viz., 1. William Alexander Louis Stephen, marquis of Douglas and
Clydesdale, born in 1845; 2. Lord Charles George Archibald, born in
1847; 3. Lady Maria Victoria, born in 1850. His grace is hereditary
keeper of Holyroodhouse, premier peer of Scotland, and knight
marischal of Scotland, 1846; appointed lord lieutenant of
Lanarkshire and colonel of its militia, 1852.
The dukes
of Hamilton have never relinquished their right to the title of duke
of Chatelherault, in France, conferred on the Regent earl of Arran
in 1548. The title is also claimed by the marquis of Abercorn, as
male representative of the house of Hamilton.
_____
The most
ancient cadet of the house of Hamilton is the family of Hamilton of
Preston, East Lothian, and Fingalton, Renfrewshire, which possesses
a baronetcy of Scotland and Nova Scotia, conferred in 1673, on Sir
William Hamilton, born in 1647, the 13th from the
original progenitor of this line. He was the son of Sir Thomas
Hamilton of Preston, whose signature to the Covenant of 1638 is
found on one of the few copies of that national compact that have
escaped the ravages of time. Lieutenant-colonel in the army which,
in 1650, was raised to oppose the English invasion that followed on
the arrival of Charles II. In Scotland, Sir Thomas was present at
the battle of Dunbar. After that defeat his estates were plundered
and his castle of Preston burnt; his charter chest, containing all
his family papers and title-deeds, being consumed. His sacrifices
and exertions in the royal cause, with his subsequent services and
sufferings, and commemorated at length in the records of the
Scottish parliament. At the battle of Worcester in 1651, he also
distinguished himself. He died in 1672, leaving two sons, Sir
William and Sir Robert, and a daughter, Janet, wife of the
celebrated Alexander Gordon of Earlston, whose persecutions she
shared. Her religious meditations in the solitary dungeons of the
Bass, have been frequently republished under the title of ‘Lady
Earlston’s Soliloquies.’ The baronetcy was conferred on the elder
son, on 5th November, 1673, for the services of his
father at Dunbar and Worcester. Sir William, 1st baronet,
maintained the principles, political and religious, of his family,
being a presbyterian and a Whig, though he was wholly adverse to the
extravagances and enthusiasm of his brother Robert, the leader of
the extreme Covenanters. He even accompanied the duke of Monmouth
when marching to quell the insurrection headed by his brother. His
undisguised opposition, however, to the arbitrary measures of the
court exposed him to the hostility of the ruling faction, and,
proceeding to Holland, in 1681, he joined the Scottish and English
malcontents assembled at the Hague. In 1685, he accompanied the earl
of Argyle in his descent on Scotland, and after the failure of that
ill-starred enterprise, he escaped a second time into Holland. He
held a high command in the army of the prince of Orange in the
expedition to England in 1688, but died at Exeter, of a sudden
illness, while the troops were on the march to London, in November
of the same year. As he left no male issue, he was succeeded in the
title and representation of the family by his brother, Sir Robert.
Sir Robert
Hamilton, 2d bart., a rigid Covenanter, was born in 1650. He was
educated under Bishop Burnet, at the university of Glasgow, and,
according to the testimony of that author, (Hist. Of his own
Times, vol. i. p. 471), was, while at college, a sprightly youth
of great promise. When the Presbyterians of Scotland, goaded to
desperation by the oppression and tyranny of the government, at
length rose in arms in defence of their civil and religious
liberties, Robert Hamilton at once placed himself at their head, and
commanded the forces of the Covenanters with great intrepidity in
the victory of Drumclog, and the discomfiture of Bothwell Bridge in
June 1679. Laing, in his Account of the Western Insurrection,
erroneously styles Hamilton a preacher.
After the
defeat at Bothwell Bridge, Hamilton avoided the consequences of his
attainder and condemnation by retiring into Holland; and, along with
his brother-in-law, Gordon of Earlston, he acted as commissioner in
behalf of the “United Societies,” whom he greatly assisted by his
influence in obtaining for them the countenance and support of the
continental churches. He resided principally at Holland till the
Revolution of 1688, when he returned to Scotland. His attainder
being reversed, he succeeded, on his brother’s death, in November of
that year, to the representation and honours of the family; but as
we learn from his own letters and his biographer (in Scots
Worthies, he could not, without violence to his notions of
religious obligation, “acknowledge an uncovenanted sovereign of
these covenanted nations;” and he constantly refused to prefer any
claim to his brother’s estates, as such aa proceeding would have
necessarily involved a recognition of the title of the prince and
princess of Orange to the crown of Scotland. At the same time, being
unmarried, he contented himself with privately securing the entailed
settlement of the family inheritance on the issue of his brother’s
eldest daughter, who had been married to the eldest son of Sir James
Oswald.
Sir Robert
Hamilton’s well-known sentiments in religious matters, with the
intemperate avowal of his opinions, soon involved him in new
troubles. Being suspected, with some show of reason, of having been
the author of the Declaration published at Sanquhar, August 10,
1692, he was soon after arrested at Earlston, and detained a
prisoner in Edinburgh and Haddington for nearly eight months. During
this interval he was frequently brought before the privy council;
but, though he declined their jurisdiction, and refused to answer
the questions put to him, or take the oath of allegiance, or in any
way acknowledge the authority of William and Mary, or enter into any
obligation not to rise against their government, he was at length
set at liberty in May 1693. From this period he was permitted to
testify, without further official molestation, against the
backslidings both in church and state; and his biographer informs us
that he was, during his life, the principal stay and comfort of that
afflicted remnant, who alone, amid the general defection of the
times, continued faithful in their adherence to Christ and his
covenanted cause. He died unmarried, October 20, 1701, aged 51
years.
The
representation and honours of the family devolved on Robert Hamilton
of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, fifth in the male line from John, 2d son of
Sir Robert Hamilton of Preston, 2d of that name. Born in 1650, with
his cousin, Robert Hamilton of Preston, his immediate predecessor,
he was implicated in the western rebellion of 1679, and after the
defeat at Bothwell Bridge, was, with several of his domestics,
arrested and carried prisoner to Edinburgh, but by the interest of
his friends, liberated, after a month’s confinement, on giving
security “not to rise in arms against his majesty or his authority.”
He died January 18, 1705. He had 4 sons: Robert, his successor;
John, and James, whose male issue failed in the first generation;
and Thomas, professor of anatomy and botany in the university of
Glasgow, whose grandson ultimately succeeded to the representation
of the family.
Robert,
the eldest son, embarked in some unfortunate speculations, which
obliged him to alienate a great part of what remained of the family
estates, and the last fragment of his inheritance was sold, after
his death, during the minority of his eldest son. By his wife, Mary,
daughter of John Baird of Craigton, he had 3 sons, William, John,
and Robert, who successively represented the family, and all died
unmarried, and 2 daughters, Grizelda, wife of John Arnot, Esq, and
Mary, who married Thomas Cochrane, M.D.
On the
death of Robert, the youngest son, at St. Helena, in 1799, on his
return from China, the representation of the family devolved on
William, grandson of Professor Thomas Hamilton, above mentioned.
This
Thomas Hamilton married Isabella, daughter of Dr. William Anderson,
professor of church history in the university of Glasgow, and had a
son, William, an eminent surgeon and lecturer on anatomy, born in
that city July 31, 1758. He was educated in his native city, and
took his degree of M.A. in 1775. After studying for the medical
profession at Edinburgh under cullen and black, he proceeded to
London for further improvement. His zeal, application, and
regularity of conduct, recommended him to the notice of Dr. William
Hunter, who invited him to reside with him, and intrusted him with
the important charge of his dissecting room. Soon after, he returned
to Glasgow, to assist his father in his lectures; and in 1781, when
the latter resigned his chair, he was appointed his successor. On
his father’s death in 1782, he succeeded also to his extensive
practice. In 1783 he married Elizabeth, 2d daughter of William
Stirling, Esq., heir male of the ancient family of Calder, and by
her had two sons, Sir William, and Thomas, a captain in the army. He
died march 13, 1790, in the 32d year of his age. A memoir of his
life, by Professor Cleghorn, is inserted in the Transactions of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh of 1792.
The elder
son, William, succeeded to the representation and baronetcy of the
family. On July 24, 1816, he was retoured heir male in general to
Sir Robert Hamilton, 5th of that name, and was the 24th
male representative of Sir John Fitz-Gilbert de Hamilton, of
Rossavon and Fingalton, 2d son of Sir Gilbert, the founder of the
house of Hamilton in Scotland. He thus resumed the baronetcy, after
its having been in abeyance since the death of the 2d baronet in
1701. A memoir of Sir William Hamilton, professor of logic in the
university of Edinburgh, and one of the first metaphysicians in
Europe, is given below.
On his
death, May 6, 1856, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir William,
4th Baronet, born Sept. 17, 1830. After being educated at
Edinburgh and Addiscombe, he became a lieutenant in the Bengal
Artillery, being employed as assistant civil engineer, public works
department, Punjaub. He married Oct. 15, 1836, Eliza Marcia, eldest
daughter of Major Barr, Bengal Horse Artillery. His next brother,
Hubert, who passed advocate at the Scottish bar in 1860, was born in
1834.
The patent
of baronetcy is in remainder to the heirs male general.
_____
The family
of Hamilton of Airdrie, was founded by John, 2d son of sir Robert
Hamilton, 7th representative of the house of Preston, by
his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Mowat of Stanehouse.
He married before 1503, Helen, daughter of Archibald Crawford, of
Ruchsulloch, hereditary bailie of the Monkland, and had 2 sons,
Methusalem, his successor, and William. Educated in Glasgow
University, he repeatedly appears with his brothers, Robert,
Patrick, and James, as procurator for his father and other
relatives, in actions before the lords of council, in 1507 and 1508.
The eldest
son, Methusalem, died after 1564; his eldest son, John, having
predeceased him in 1561. His 2d son, Gavin, succeeded him. Like most
gentlemen of the Hamilton name, he supported the cause of Queen
Mary. He was engaged in the celebrated capture of the king’s party
in Stirling in 1571, and was compelled to produce guarantees for his
obedience in 1572 and1579. He married in 1567, Isabella, daughter of
James Robertson, of Ernock; issue 4 sons and a daughter. He died
Aug. 17, 1591.
His eldest
son, John, burn in 1569, married Janet, daughter of Robert Hamilton
of Torrence, and had 2 sons and 3 daughte3rs. The elder son, John,
having predeceased him, without issue, in 1641, he was succeeded, on
his death in 1648, by his younger son, Gavin.
This
gentleman was appointed, in 1649, parliamentary commissioner of war
for the county of Lanark; and he accompanied William, duke of
Hamilton, and his kinsman, Sir Thomas Hamilton of Preston, in the
unfortunate expedition into England under Charles II. In 1651. His
estate, like the fortunes of most other gentlemen of his name, was
deeply involved by his exertions in the double cause of the
convenant and king. Gavin Hamilton married Jane, daughter of Robert
Montgomery, of Hazlehead, by Jane, daughter of Sir James Hamilton,
of Preston, and died Dec. 29, 1687. His widow survived him for many
years; and the male line of her family having become extinct, about
the conclusion of the century, that ancient branch of the house of
Eglinton is now exclusively represented by her descendants as heirs
of line. Gavin Hamilton had two sons, Robert and William, of the
latter of whom afterwards.
Robert,
the elder son, in 1688 made up titles as heir to his father; and, in
1695, he obtained an act of parliament in his favour, “for the
holding of a weekly market and four yearly fairs in his town of
Airdrie.” He succeeded to the representation of the family, after
the death of his cousin, Robert Hamilton of Preston, in 1701, as
above mentioned.
Gavin
Hamilton of Airdrie’s 2d son, William Hamilton, D.D., born in 1675,
was baptized at a conventicle. In 1694, he was ordained minister of
Cramond, and in Oct 1709, was appointed professor of divinity in the
university of Edinburgh. In discharging the duties of this chair he
peculiarly endeared himself to the students under his care by his
kindness, candour, and affability, and after acquiring the highest
reputation among his contemporaries for piety and theological
erudition, and distinguishing himself as a leader in the government
of the Church of Scotland, he was appointed principal of the
university. He died Nov. 12, 1732, leaving a numerous family.
One of his
sons, Gavin Hamilton, was an eminent publisher in Edinburgh. A man
of fine taste and high literary and scientific attainments, he
occupied a prominent place in Edinburgh society. At the time of the
Porteous Mob in 1736, he was junior bailie of the city, and while on
duty on that eventful night, he received a message from a married
sister, in the neighbourhood, intimating that she had something
particular to communicate. Supposing it to be of public importance,
he made his way through the crowd and went to her house. On his
arrival, his sister locked the door, and said she would not let him
out again, to which he sternly replied, “Madam, I must be on duty
to-night, and if you will not let me out at the door, I will jump
the window.” Seeing him so determined she unlocked the door, and he
resumed his station at the prison gate, where he narrowly escaped
being killed by a blow from a Lochaber axe. In 1740 he was again in
the magistracy, and risked his life in quelling a meal mob in the
village of the Water of Leith, where the public granaries of the
city of Edinburgh are situated. There was a famine in Scotland at
the time, and the people were ferocious from want.
In 1745,
he was senior bailie of Edinburgh, and the lord provost, Stewart,
being a Jacobite, Mr. Hamilton, as a staunch supporter of the
reigning family, was often exposed to jeopardy in the discharge of
the important duties entrusted to him. By his wife, Helen, daughter
of James Balfour, of Pilrig, he had a large family. A memoir of his
8th son, Dr Robert Hamilton, the celebrated
mathematician, is given below.
Baillie
Gavin Hamilton’s brother, Robert Hamilton, D.D., born at Cramond,
May 19, 1707, 4th son of Principal William Hamilton, was
ordained minister of his native parish April 4, 1731. In 1736, he
was appointed minister of Lady Yester’s Edinburgh, and in 1754
professor of divinity in Edinburgh university, when he gave up Lady
Yester’s. He was also dean of the order of the Thistle. He was
respected for his sterling good sense and sound principles, and for
his steady opposition to the infidel spirit of the age, encouraged
as it was by the popular writings and attractive manners of David
Hume. He was known to lament the court paid to that eminent author
by some of his brethren of the clergy, saying they were misled by
the pride of literary talent. Dr. Hamilton married Jean, daughter of
John Hay, Esq., of Hayston, Perthshire.
His son,
Dr. James Hamilton, was an eminent physician in Edinburgh. He was
born in 1749, and educated at the High School there. After taking
his degree at the university, he spent some years on the Continent.
Elected one of the physicians to the Royal Infirmary of the Scottish
capital, he afterwards obtained, in succession, the same office in
George Heriot’s Hospital, the Merchant Mainden, and the Trades
Maiden Hospitals in that city, and held three appointments for
upwards of fifty years. In the two first mentioned hospitals his
portrait is preserved. A full length etching of him, in the costume
of the old school, with three cocked hat, which he always wore, is
also given in “Kay’s Edinburgh Portraits.” He was the author of a
valuable and elegantly written medical work, entitled, ‘Observations
on the Utility and Administration of Purgative Medicine in Several
Diseases;’ the 8th edition of which ‘Revised and Improved
by the Author, with a chapter on Cold Bathing, Considered in its
Purgative Effect,’ was published in 1826. Dr. Hamilton died at
Edinburgh in 1835. His sister, Grizel Hamilton, married Benjamin
Bell, Esq., surgeon in that city, of whom a memoir is given in
volume I.
Gilbert
Hamilton, D.D., a younger son os Principal William Hamilton, born
May 16, 1715, was ordained minister of Cramond, May 1, 1737, as
successor to his brother Robert. He was a man of an accomplished
mind, deeply embued with the charms of poetry, and a great lover of
the classics and general literature. He was so much attached to his
parish that he would not remove from it, although solicited to
accept of a charge in Edinburgh. He married Margaret, daughter of
John Craigie, Esq., of Halhill and Dumbarnie, by Susan, daughter of
Sir John Inglis, of Cramond, and died in May 1772, leaving 3
daughters: 1st, Anne, Mrs. Dinwiddie, mother of Gilbert
Dinwiddie, Esq., deputy commissary general; 2d, Susan, wife of
Alexander Anderson, Esq., of Kingask, and mother of Major Anderson,
of Montrave, parish of Scoonie, Fifeshire; 3d, Mary, died unmarried.
Principal
Hamilton’s daughter, Anne, wife of Rev. Mr. Horsley, an English
clergyman, was mother of Dr. Samuel Horsley, bishop of St. Asaph.
_____
The
Hamiltons of Silvertonhill, Lanarkshire, a family in possession of a
baronetcy of Nova Scotia, are descended from Alexander de Hamilton,
2d son of Sir James Hamilton, dominus de Cadzow, and are therefore
next to the Abercorn family in the male representation of the house
of Hamilton. This Alexander de Hamilton had a charter, in 1449, from
Alexander, earl of Crawford, wherein he was styled “alexander de
Hamilton, of Quhitecamp, afterwards of Silvertonhill.” He had also a
charter of a piece of land adjoining the estate of Westport,
Linlithgowshire, sold to him by a person of the name of Wilde, a
burgess of Linlithgow. In a charter of settlement of the Hamilton
estates, granted to his brother, the first Lord Hamilton, of date
Oct. 23, 1455, he was called next in succession after his brother’s
daughter, Elizabeth, and his natural sons. He appears to have left
two sons, James, and William, ancestor of the Hamiltons of Westport.
James, the
elder son, in a charter of settlement of the Hamilton estates
granted to James, 1st earl of Arran, of date January 16,
1512-13, was called next in succession, after Sir James Hamilton, of
Fynnart; Patrick Hamilton, of Kincavil; and John Hamilton, of
Brumehill. With his wife, a daughter of the family of Douglas, he
got the lands of Newton, in the barony of Drumsargard. He had a son,
John, designed of Newton, and a daughter, married to James, Viscount
Teviot.
John
Hamilton, the son, married a daughter of Sir John Somerville, of
Quodquhan, and had a son, Andrew, and a daughter Margaret, wife of
Archibald Hamilton of Raploch. He died, according to Crawford, in
1535.
His son,
Andrew, who predeceased him, had 3 sons, Andrew, Alexander, tutor of
Silvertonhill, who carried on the line of this family, and John, of
Cubardy.
Andrew,
the eldest son, succeeded his grandfather. In a charter of
settlement of the Hamilton estates, granted to the duke of
Chatelherault, of date Sep. 15, 1540, he was called next in
succession after David Hamilton, of Brumehill. He married a daughter
of James Hamilton, of Stanehouse, and died in the beginning of the
reign of Queen Mary, leaving an infant son, Andrew.
This
Andrew Hamilton, of Silvertonhill, was carefully educated under the
guardianship of his uncle, Alexander. He married Elspeth, a daughter
of Baillie, of Carfin, and had several children, who all predeceased
him but one son.
The son,
Francis Hamilton, of Silvertonhill, is described as having been “a
very enthusiastic, wrong-headed man. He fancied himself bewitched by
Dame Isobel Boyd, Lady Blair, which appears by several extravagant
petitions to parliament from him in 1641. He died not long after
this, having greatly squandered away the family estate, and, as he
never was married, the representation devolved on the descendants of
his grand-uncle, Alexander.” (Anderson’s Historical and
Genealogical Memoirs of the House of Hamilton, page 378).
Alexander
Hamilton, tutor of Silvertonhill, got from his father the lands of
Goslingtoun, which for sometime continued to be the title of his
family. He had 2 sons, Sir Andrew, and John, mentioned in the list
of the Hamiltons, circa 1570. Alexander’s latter will and testament
is dated at Newton, August 31, 1547. Sir Andrew, his son, and
Catherine his spouse, were appointed his successors.
The elder
son, Sir Andrew Hamilton, of Goslingtoun, was a faithful and loyal
subject of Queen Mary, by whom he was knighted. He was at the battle
of Langside, for which he was forfeited, but had his possessions
restored to him, by the treaty of Perth, in 1572. He died in 1592,
leaving 3 sons, 1st. Sir Robert; 2d, James Hamilton, of
Tweediesyde, who, for his attachment to the interests of the
Hamilton family, was obliged to take refuge in England, but returned
from exile in 1585; 3d. Andrew.
Sir Robert
Hamilton, of goslingtoun, the eldest son, married Elizabeth,
daughter and sole heiress of Sir William Baillie, of Provan, lord
president of the court of session, and had 5 sons, and one daughter.
Sir Robert died in 1642.
His eldest
son, Francis, having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his 2d
son, Edward, designed first of Balgray, afterwards of Silvertonhill.
He had a charter, under the great seal, dated July 8, 1635, of the
lands of Tweedie, goslingtoun, Provan, &c., containing an entail,
first to himself, and the heirs male of his body, which failing, to
Robert Hamilton, his brother, and the heirs male of his body, which
failing, to his next brother, James, a merchant burgess of Glasgow,
who died in 1655. In this charter there are some lands mentioned
which had been evicted from Francis Hamilton of Silvertonhill by
John Crawford, and again acquired by Edward; all which are now
confirmed to him; and he accordingly took the title of Silvertonhill,
which afterwards continued to be that of the family. By his wife
Marion, daughter of Mure of Caldwell, Edward had 2 sons, Sir Robert,
and John, and 2 daughters, Jean, married to the laird of Minto-Stewart,
and Christian. He died in 1649.
The elder
son, Sir Robert Hamilton, of Silvertonhill, was a steady adherent of
Charles I., by whom he was created a baronet of Scotland and Nova
Scotia about 1646. He married Hon. Anne Hamilton, 2d daughter of
John, 1st Lord Belhaven, and had 2 sons, Sir Robert, and
Thomas, who died in France, and 4 daughters; 1st
Margaret, wife of John, eldest son of Robert Hamilton of Pressmannan;
her maternal grandfather, Lord Belhaven, settled on them the state
of Biel, and resigned his title in favour of John Hamilton, who, of
course, became 2d Lord Belhaven, on his death in 1679. 2d. Anne,
married to sir William Craigie, of Garie, without issue. 3d.
Elizabeth, m
