James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn
| The Duke of Abercorn | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Allan Warren, 1990 | |
| Born | 4 July 1934 |
| Tenure | 4 June 1979 – present |
| Other titles | 6th Marquess of Abercorn, 5th Marquess of Hamilton, 14th Earl of Abercorn, 9th Viscount Strabane, 7th Viscount Hamilton, 14th Lord Paisley, 14th Lord Abercorn, 14th Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcashell and Kirkpatrick, 13th Lord Hamilton of Strabane, 9th Baron Mountcastle |
| Spouse(s) | Alexandra Philips |
| Issue |
James Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton Lady Sophia Hamilton Lord Nicholas Hamilton |
| Parents |
James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn Mary Kathleen Crichton |
James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn KG (born 4 July 1934),[1] became Duke of Abercorn in the Peerage of Ireland on the death of his father in June 1979. The son of James Edward Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn, and Lady Mary Crichton (daughter of Lt.-Col. Henry William Crichton, Viscount Crichton (1872–1914), eldest son of John Crichton, 4th Earl Erne). He is a former politician and Lord Steward of the Household.
Career
Educated at Eton College and the Royal Agricultural College, in 1952 he was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards. In 1964 he became Ulster Unionist MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone (when he held the courtesy title Marquess of Hamilton), succeeding his brother-in-law, Lord Robert Grosvenor (later Duke of Westminster). He held his seat in the 1966 election but lost it to a Unity candidate, Frank McManus, in 1970 by 1,423 votes.[2] In 1970 he served as High Sheriff of Tyrone [3] and from 1986 to 2009 as Lord Lieutenant of County Tyrone. In 1999, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Garter. He was colonel of the Irish Guards from 2000 to 2008. Additionally, he was appointed Lord Steward of the Household in 2001, serving until 2009.
He is one of the largest landowners in all of Ireland with more than 15,000 acres (61 km2). His seat is Baronscourt, near Newtownstewart, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The Dukedom of Abercorn is in the Peerage of Ireland and did not carry an entitlement to a seat in the House of Lords, but until 1999 the Duke was entitled to sit there under his subsidiary title Marquess of Abercorn, in the Peerage of Great Britain.
He was appointed Chancellor of the Order of the Garter on 17 October 2012.[4]
Family
In 1966 he married Alexandra Anastasia "Sacha" Phillips (b. 27 February 1946), eldest daughter of Lt.-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips (1909–1980) and Georgina Wernher (1919–2011), elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Baronet, of Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire). The Duchess is known by her second name Alexandra, and her nickname "Sacha". She is the elder sister of Natalia, wife of the Duke of Westminster.
The Duke and Duchess of Abercorn have two sons and a daughter:
- James Harold Charles Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton (born 19 August 1969), who was married on 7 May 2004 at the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, to Tanya Marie Nation (b. Neuilly-sur-Seine, 30 April 1971), eldest daughter of Douglas Percy Codrington Nation (Rawalpindi, 12 February 1942 – New York, 2 September 2001), senior managing director of Bear Stearns International Ltd. (1942–2001) and his wife (New York, 10 April 1970, divorced 1989) Barbara "Bobbie" Anne Brookes (1940).[5][6][7][8][9] They have two children, James Alfred Nicholas Hamilton, styled Viscount Strabane (born 30 October 2005) and Lord Claud Douglas Harold Hamilton (b. 12 December 2007).
- Lady Sophia Alexandra Hamilton (b. 8 June 1973), who was a model before 1996. She married British war journalist Anthony Loyd in 2002, but they divorced, without children, in 2005. Lady Sophia subsequently became engaged to Hashem Arouzi in 2013.[10] She is now co-designer for the fashion label Hamilton-Paris.[11]
- Lord Nicholas Edward Hamilton (b. 5 July 1979).[12]
He is also a relative of Diana, Princess of Wales as he is the first cousin of Diana's father, the 8th Earl Spencer. The current duke's father, the 4th Duke of Abercorn was the brother of Diana's grandmother, Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer. The Duke of Cambridge (who is second in line to his grandmother's thrones) and Prince Harry are his distant cousins.
Ancestry
Arms
| |||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ "Abercorn, James Hamilton". Who's who 1998 : an annual biographical dictionary. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1998. p. 2. ISBN 0312175914.
- ↑ Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament", vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981), p. 149.
- ↑ The Belfast Gazette: no. 2596. p. 13. 9 January 1970. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 60301. p. 19937. 17 October 2012.
- ↑ Burke's Peerage and Baronetage
- ↑ "Evan/Evans - North Wales Genealogy Extracts". Recyclegen.com. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
- ↑ "James Harold Charles Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton". The Peerage. Lundy Consulting Ltd. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
- ↑ http://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/_assets/mary%20jane%20nation.pdf
- ↑ "MARSDEN, Christine b. 04 Aug 1919 Bengal, India d. 05 Sep 1992 Crondall, Hampshire, England, UK". Nation Study. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
- ↑ [http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/engagements/159077/mr-h.-arouzi-and-lady-sophia-hamilton. "Mr H. Arouzi and Lady Sophie Hamilton"]. Daily Telegraph. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ↑ "Hamilton-Paris". Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ↑ "James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn". The Peerage. 16 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn. |
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Abercorn
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lord Robert Grosvenor |
Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1964 – 1970 |
Succeeded by Frank McManus |
| Court offices | ||
| Preceded by The Viscount Ridley |
Lord Steward 2001–2009 |
Succeeded by Earl of Dalhousie |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg |
Colonel of the Irish Guards 2000–2008 |
Succeeded by Sir Sebastian Roberts |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by John Hamilton-Stubber |
Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone 1986–2009 |
Succeeded by Robert Lowry Scott |
| Preceded by The Lord Carrington |
Chancellor of the Order of the Garter 2012–present |
Incumbent |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by James Hamilton |
Duke of Abercorn 1979 – present |
Incumbent Heir: James Hamilton |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by The Duke of Sutherland |
Gentlemen | Succeeded by The Duke of Westminster |
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||