James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil (first creation)

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil (c.1618 - 20 June 1659) was an Anglo-Irish Royalist peer, soldier and politician.[1]

Clanbrassil was the son of James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye and Jane Philips. His father had been an agent for James VI of Scotland and was granted a large amount of land in Ireland following James' accession to the English throne.

Clanbrassil sat in the Irish House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Down between 1634 and 1635. Upon the outbreak of the civil war in England, he raised a regiment of foot and a troop of horse in support of Charles I. The force was maintained for eight years at Clanbrassil's own expense. He succeeded to his father's viscountcy in 1644.[2] Following the defeat of the king by the forces of Parliament, Clanbrassil's estates were seized by Oliver Cromwell. On 7 June 1647, Charles I created him Earl of Clanbrassil in the Peerage of Ireland in recognition for his service.[3] Clanbrassil was one of a number of Protestant Royalists who were allowed to return to their estates under The Protectorate, and did so in 1654 in return for a payment of £9,435. He was succeeded by his second son.[4]

In 1638 he was betrothed to Lady Mary Boyle, the 13-year-old daughter of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. The marriage however never took place, as Mary, despite intense pressure from her formidable father, absolutely refused to marry him, on the unflattering ground that she found him repulsive. Such defiance of a father's wish, particularly in such a young girl, was almost unprecedented at the time. Mary however was noted from an early age for her extraordinary strength of character. Even her father ruefully admitted that he was unable to control "my unruly daughter", and since he was fond of her he let the betrothal lapse.[5]

On 23 Sep 1641, he married Lady Anne Carey.[6] The couple had four children:

References

  1. ↑ Cracroft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage and Baronetage - 'Clanbrassill, Earl of (I, 1647 - 1675)' http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/clanbrassill1647.htm
  2. ↑ Cracroft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage and Baronetage - 'Clanbrassill, Earl of (I, 1647 - 1675)' http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/clanbrassill1647.htm
  3. ↑ James Seaton Reid, The history of the Presbyterian church in Ireland, Volume 2 (Waugh and Innes, 1837), 186.
  4. ↑ Cracroft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage and Baronetage - 'Clanbrassill, Earl of (I, 1647 - 1675)' http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/clanbrassill1647.htm
  5. ↑ Lenox-Conyngham, Melosina Diaries of Ireland Lilliput Press Dublin 1993 p.13
  6. ↑ Jane Ohlmeyer, Making Ireland English: The Irish Aristocracy in the Seventeenth Century (Yale University Press, 2012), 202.
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Earl of Clanbrassil
1st creation
1647–1659 		Succeeded by
Henry Hamilton
Preceded by
James Hamilton		 Viscount Claneboye
1st creation
1644–1659 		Succeeded by
Henry Hamilton
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