House of Hamilton
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The house Hamilton ( Engl. House of Hamilton ), also Clan Hamilton called, is one of the most important Scottish noble families with presumably English origins. It can be traced back to Walter FitzGilbert, known as Hamilton, who owned lands in Lanarkshire in 1296 . He swore allegiance to King Edward I of England and in 1314 commanded Bothwell Castle, to which the English knights had fled after the Battle of Bannockburn . After he surrendered here, he became the Scottish King Robert I Brucerewarded with the accolade and lands in Clydesdale and West Lothian, among others . His grandson, Sir David of Cadzow, was the first to take the surname Hamilton.
title
Members of the Hamilton (and Douglas-Hamilton ) family held or still carry the following nobility titles:
- Duke of Abercorn
- Duke of Hamilton
- Duke of Brandon
- Duc de Châtellerault
- Marquess of Abercorn
- Marquess of Clydesdale
- Marquess of Douglas
- Marquess of Hamilton
- Earl of Arran
- Earl of Abercorn
- Earl of Cambridge
- Earl of Clanbrassil
- Earl of Haddington
- Earl of Lanark
- Earl of Orkney
- Earl of Ruglen
- Earl of Selkirk
- Imperial Count of Hamilton zu Neuburg
- Viscount Boyne
- Viscount Claneboye
- Viscount Hamilton
- Viscount Riccartoun
- Viscount Strabane
- Lord Abercorn
- Lord Aven and Innerdale
- Lord Bargeny
- Lord Belhaven and Stenton
- Lord Hillhouse
- Lord Machanshire and Polmont
- Lord Paisley
- Lord Pressmennan
- Baron Brancepeth
- Baron Dutton
- Baron Hamilton of Dalzell
- Baron Hamilton of Epsom
- Baron Hamilton of Glenawly
- Baron Hamilton of Strabane
- Baron Innerdale
- Baron Mountcastle
history
The great-grandson of David of Cadzow, James Hamilton , was raised to Baron and Lord Hamilton in 1445, who initially allied with the rival Douglas family against the Scottish crown, but then betrayed them and was able to benefit from their confiscated goods and lands. After the death of his first wife, he married Princess Mary , eldest daughter of King Jacob II of Scotland , who bequeathed the island and the title of Earl of Arran to her son . Between her grandson James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran and the Scottish throne, after the death of King James V, there was only Mary Queen of Scots . He was elected as their regent and held this office until 1554. By King Henry II of France James was elevated to Duc de Châtelherault. His eldest son, James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran, was under discussion as a possible husband for both Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I of England , but fell insane in 1562. He was followed by his brother John as Earl of Arran, who was made Marquess of Hamilton in 1599.
The 3rd Marquess of Hamilton James Hamilton led an army of 6,000 men in support of the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf in 1631/32, later he played an important role in the disputes between King Charles I and the Covenanters . Raised Duke of Hamilton in 1643, he led a Scottish army to England but was defeated by Oliver Cromwell in the Battle of Preston (1648) and subsequently beheaded.
After his brother's death, his only daughter Anne Hamilton became Duchess in her own right. Her husband, William Douglas , Earl of Selkirk, took the name and title Hamilton. Both descendants called themselves Douglas-Hamilton from then on. The Duke became High Commissioner and High Admiral of Scotland and Hereditary Administrator of Holyrood Palace , where the Hamiltons lived in part of the palace until the mid-19th century.
Her eldest son James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton became the English Duke of Brandon in 1711, but Parliament did not allow the seat and vote that he was entitled to in the House of Lords , as he was one of the main pillars of the Stuarts party in Scotland ( Jacobites ).
The current Duke Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton lives at Lennoxlove House in East Lothian. The former ancestral home of Hamilton in Hamilton (South Lanarkshire), built in 1695 and considered to be one of the largest non-royal residences, fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1921. Hamilton is one of the five people in the United Kingdom who hold two duke titles at the same time.
Irish branch line Hamilton of Abercorn
In 1603 James Hamilton , a grandson of the 2nd Earl of Arran, was appointed Lord and in 1606 Earl of Abercorn . He founded a branch line that soon moved to Ireland and is there to this day. In 1790, the family branch was given the title of Marquess of Abercorn , then in 1868 Duke of Abercorn .
family members
photos
Clan badge and motto
Original Hamilton family crest
Family crest of the Hamiltons of Arran
Douglas Hamilton family coat of arms
literature
- John Anderson: Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton. In: James Balfour Paul (Ed.): The Scots Peerage. Volume 4. Douglas, Edinburgh 1907, pp. 339-397 .
- Gilbert Burnet : The Memoirs of the Lives and Actions of James and William Dukes of Hamilton and Castle-Herald. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1852, ( digitized version ).
- Rosalind K. Marshall: The Days of Duchess Anne. Life in the Household of the Duchess of Hamilton. 1656-1716. New edition. Tuckwell, East Linton 2000, ISBN 1-86232-111-6 .
