James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn

His Grace The Duke of Abercorn KG PC
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office 13 July 1866 – 1 December 1868
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Lord Wodehouse
Succeeded by	The Earl Spencer
In office 2 March 1874 – 11 December 1876
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Earl Spencer
Succeeded by	The Duke of Marlborough
Personal details
Born	21 January 1811 (1811-01-21) Westminster, Middlesex, United Kingdom
Died	31 October 1885(1885-10-31) (aged 74) Baronscourt, Tyrone, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Lady Louisa Russell (1812–1905)
Children	14
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Religion	Anglican

James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, KG, PC (21 January 1811 – 31 October 1885), styled Viscount Hamilton from 1814 to 1818 and the Marquess of Abercorn from 1818 to 1868, was a British Conservative politician and statesman who twice served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

In 1860, The Times noted that Hamilton was one of only three noblemen to hold peerages in all three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.^[1]

Background and education

Born at Seymour Place, Mayfair, Abercorn was the son of James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton, himself the eldest son of John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn. His mother, Harriet, was the second daughter of the Hon. John Douglas, himself the son of James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton. His father died when Abercorn was only three. In 1818, aged seven, he succeeded his grandfather in his titles and estates.^[2] He was educated at Harrow School and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1856, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Laws from the University of Oxford.^[2]

Political career

In 1844, Lord Abercorn was made a Knight of the Garter at the relatively young age of 33, becoming that same year Lord Lieutenant of Donegal. Two years later he was appointed a Privy Counsellor and Groom of the Stole to Prince Albert, and remained a prominent figure in the royal court for the next two decades. In 1866, he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland, and two years later was created Marquess of Hamilton (in the Peerage of the United Kingdom) and Duke of Abercorn (in the Peerage of Ireland), resigning shortly after Gladstone won the 1868 general election. He was reappointed to the post in 1874, and the Duke served as Viceroy until his resignation in 1876, partly on account of his wife's ill health. In 1874, he was chosen Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, a post he held until his death.^[3] Abercorn was Envoy-Extraordinary for the investiture of King Umberto I of Italy with the Order of the Garter on 2 March 1878. He was elected Chancellor of the University of Ireland in 1881, and died four years later at his home of Baronscourt, County Tyrone.

He is buried in the cemetery at Baronscourt Parish Church, the traditional burial place of the Dukes of Abercorn and their families.^[4]

Family and children

James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn

Abercorn married Lady Louisa, second daughter of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, in 1832.^[2] They had fourteen children, thirteen of whom survived infancy:

• Lady Harriet Georgiana Louisa Hamilton (1834–1913), married in 1855 to Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield. They had eight sons and five daughters.
• Lady Beatrix Frances Hamilton (1835–1871), married in 1854 to George Frederick D'Arcy Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham
• Lady Louisa Jane Hamilton (1836–1912), married in 1859 to William Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch
• Lady Katherine Elizabeth Hamilton (c. 1838–1874), married in 1858 to William Henry Edgcumbe, 4th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
• James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn (1838–1913)
• Lady Georgiana Susan Hamilton (1841–1913), married in 1882 to Edward Turnour, 5th Earl Winterton
• Lord Claud Hamilton (1843–1925)
• Lord George Hamilton (1845–1927)
• Lady Albertha Frances Anne Hamilton (1847–1932), married in 1869 to George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough. The marriage was annulled in 1883.
• Lord Ronald Douglas Hamilton (1849–1867)
• Lady Maud Evelyn Hamilton (1850–1932), married in 1869 to Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
• Lord Cosmo Hamilton (1853–1853, on the same day)
• Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton (1856–1928)
• Lord Ernest Hamilton (1858–1939)

Abercorn died in October 1885, aged 74, and was succeeded by his eldest son, James. The Duchess of Abercorn died in March 1905, aged 92. Through his son, the 2nd Duke, Abercorn is a great-great-great grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. Through his daughter, Lady Louisa, Abercorn is a great-grandfather of HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and a great-great grandfather of Sarah, Duchess of York.

Ancestry

References

• Dictionary of National Biography
•  Cooper, Thompson (1884). "Abercorn (Duke of), James Hamilton". Men of the Time (eleventh ed.). London: George Routledge & Sons. p. 4. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Abercorn
• Portraits of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn at the National Portrait Gallery, London