William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton KG (1616–September 12, 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 for Scotland. Arrested at Oxford on the orders of King Charles I in 1643 for "concurrence" with his brother the Duke of Hamilton, he escaped 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 Estates of the Realm 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 the most senior figure among the Scots Royalist exiles. He returned to Scotland with King Charles II 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 regiment drawn mainly from his tenantry. He died 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

• Balfour Paul, Sir JamesThe Scots Peerage Vols IX. Edinburgh 1907 [1]
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "Marquesses and Dukes of Hamilton", a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] External link

• thepeerage.com page

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by James Hamilton	Duke of Hamilton 1649 – 1651	Succeeded by Anne Hamilton
	Earl of Arran 1649 – 1651	Succeeded by William Douglas-Hamilton
New creation	Earl of Lanark 1649 – 1651
Peerage of England
Preceded by James Hamilton	Earl of Cambridge 4th creation 1649 – 1651	Extinct