British nobleman, courtier, and diplomat
The duke as Marquess of Hamilton by
Leslie Ward , 1881
James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn
KG
CB
PC (Ire) (24 August 1838 – 3 June 1913),
[1] styled Viscount Hamilton until 1868 and Marquess of Hamilton from 1868 to 1885, was a
British nobleman, courtier, and diplomat. He was the son of
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn , and
Lady Louisa Jane Russell .
Biography
Lord Hamilton was born on 24 August 1838, the eldest son of
James Hamilton , second marquess and later first duke of Abercorn (1811–1885), and his wife
Lady Louisa Jane Russell (1812–1905), second daughter of
John Russell, sixth duke of Bedford .
[2] He was educated, like his father, at
Harrow and
Christ Church, Oxford , where he matriculated on 28 May 1857. After graduating from Oxford with a BA in 1860,
[4] he entered
Parliament as
Conservative
MP for
County Donegal , a constituency he represented from 1860 to 1880. After serving as
High Sheriff of Tyrone for 1863, he re-entered university and emerged with an
M.A. in 1865 (he was created a
Companion of the Order of the Bath the same year). That year, he also embarked upon a diplomatic mission to
Denmark . He served as a
Lord of the Bedchamber to the
Prince of Wales from 1866 to 1885; in the latter year, he took over his father's position of
Lord Lieutenant of County Donegal , and inherited his father's peerage titles. He led the Lords' reply to the
Speech from the throne wearing the uniform of Lord Lieutenant of Donegal on 21 January 1886.
[5] He was chosen
Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1886, a post he held until his death.
[6] In 1887 he was appointed to the
Privy Council of Ireland .
Abercorn held several positions after acceding to that title, including
Groom of the Stole to the Prince of Wales (1886–1891), and chairman of the
British South Africa Company . In early 1901 he was appointed by
King Edward to lead a special diplomatic mission to announce the King's accession to the governments of
Denmark ,
Sweden and Norway ,
Russia ,
Germany and
Saxony .
[7]
He was created a
Knight of the Garter . He died of
pneumonia in London at the age of 74. He is buried in the cemetery at
Baronscourt Parish Church, the traditional burial place of the Dukes of Abercorn and their families.
[8]
In 1883 he held 76,500 acres in Tyrone and Donegal. He also held 2,100 acres in Scotland.
Family and children
In 1869 he married
Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe (1848–1929), daughter of Anne Gore (bef. 1832–1877), daughter of Adm. Sir John Gore (d. 1836), and
Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (1796–1870). Together they had two daughters and seven sons:
James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn (1869–1953)
Lord Claud Penn Alexander Hamilton (18 October 1871 – 18 October 1871) (same day)
Lord Charlie Hamilton (10 April 1874 – 10 April 1874) (same day)
Lady Alexandra Phyllis Hamilton (1876–1918), who had
Princess Alexandra of Wales as sponsor at her baptism. She died when the
RMS Leinster was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank. She was unmarried.
Lord Claud Francis Hamilton (25 October 1878 – 25 December 1878) (aged 2 months)
Lady Gladys Mary Hamilton (1880–1917), who in 1902 married
Ralph Francis Forward-Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow (1877–1946). She was his first wife, and together they had one son.
Lord Arthur John Hamilton (1883–1914), who was
Deputy Master of the Household from 1913,
Captain in the
Irish Guards and was killed in action at the
First Battle of Ypres .
Lord (unnamed) Hamilton (31 October 1886 – 31 October 1886) (same day)
Lord Claud Nigel Hamilton (1889–1975),
Captain in the
Grenadier Guards , fought in the First World War and served in the household of
King George V , his widow and
Queen Elizabeth II as Deputy Master of the Household, as
Extra Equerry , as
Equerry in Ordinary and as
Comptroller , Treasurer. In 1933 he married Violet Ruby Ashton. They had no children.
Honours and arms
British
Foreign
[11]
Ancestry
Ancestors of James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn 16.
Captain John Hamilton 8.
John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn 17. Harriet Craggs 4.
James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton 18. Sir Joseph Copley,
1st Baronet , of Sprotbrough 9. Catherine Copley 19. Mary Buller 2.
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn 20.
James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton 10. John Douglas 21. Bridget Heathcote 5. Harriet Douglas 22.
Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood 11. Lady Frances Lascelles 23. Anne Chaloner 1. James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn 24.
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford 12.
Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock 25. Gertrude Leveson-Gower 6.
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford 26.
Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle 13. Lady Elizabeth Keppel 27.
Lady Anne Lennox 3.
Lady Louisa Jane Russell 28.
Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon 14.
Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon 29. Lady Catherine Gordon 7. Lady Georgina Gordon 30. Sir William Maxwell,
3rd Baronet , of
Monreith 15.
Jane Maxwell 31. Magdalen Blair
Notes
^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain : "
Abercorn, James Hamilton ".
Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 30 (12th ed.). 1922. p. 1.
^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004).
"The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" .
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/33669.
doi :
10.1093/ref:odnb/33669 . Retrieved 1 December 2019 . (Subscription or
UK public library membership required.)
^
Foster, Joseph (1888–1892).
"Hamilton, James, Viscount" .
Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886 . Oxford: Parker and Co – via
Wikisource .
^
"ADDRESS IN ANSWER TO HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH" .
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 21 January 1886.
^ Waite, Arthur Edward (2007). A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry . Vol. I. Cosimo, Inc. p. 400.
ISBN
978-1-60206-641-0 .
^ "The King – the special Embassies". The Times . No. 36410. London. 23 March 1901. p. 12.
^ Bishop, The Earl (30 August 2012).
"The Earl-Bishop: Baronscourt Parish Church" .
^ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England , I , London,
p. 69
^ Sir James Balfour Paul, ed. (1904).
"Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn" . The Scots Peerage . Vol. 1. Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp. 72–73. Retrieved 7 February 2021 .
^
"Ritter-Orden: Österreichisch-kaiserlicher Leopold-orden" , Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie , 1913, p. 64, retrieved 9 February 2021
^ Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1889) [1st pub.:1801].
Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1889 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1889 ] (PDF) . Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via
da:DIS Danmark .
References
External links
International National Artists People