William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton

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For other persons named William Hamilton, see William Hamilton (disambiguation).

William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton (1616–1651), was a Scottish nobleman who supported both Royalist and Presbyterian causes during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

He was created Earl of Lanark in 1639, and in the next year became Secretary of State in Scotland. Arrested at Oxford on the orders of King Charles I in 1643 for "concurrence" with his brother the Duke of Hamilton, he effected his escape and was temporarily reconciled with the Presbyterian party.

After taking part in the battle of Kilsyth on the covenanter side, he was sent by the Scottish committee of estates to treat with Charles I at Newcastle in 1646, when he sought in vain to persuade the king to consent to the establishment of Presbyterianism in England. On 26 September 1647 he signed, on behalf of the Scots, the treaty with Charles known as the "Engagement", at Carisbrooke Castle, and helped to organize the Second English Civil War.

In 1648 he fled to Holland. The following year he succeeded to the dukedom of Hamilton on his brother's execution, making him an important personage among the Royalist exiles. He returned to Scotland with Prince Charles in 1650, but, finding a reconciliation with the Marquess of Argyll impossible, he refused to prejudice Charles’s cause by pushing his claims.

He lived in retirement until the Scottish invasion of England during the Third English Civil War, when he acted as colonel of a body of his dependants. He died on 12 September 1651 from the effects of wounds received at the battle of Worcester. He left no male heirs, and the dukedom of Hamilton devolved on the 1st duke’s eldest surviving daughter Anne, who became Duchess of Hamilton in her own right.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Preceded by: James Hamilton	Duke of Hamilton 1649–1651	Succeeded by: Anne Hamilton Duchess of Hamilton
	Earl of Arran 1649–1651	Dormant
	Earl of Cambridge 1649–1651	Extinct
New Title New creation	Earl of Lanark 1639–1651