George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney

George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney (1724)

George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney (* 1666 in Hamilton , † January 29, 1737 in London ), was a Scottish-British field marshal and nobleman .

Life

origin

He was born at Hamilton Palace near Hamilton in Lanarkshire and baptized on February 9, 1666. He was a younger son of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Selkirk , from the House of Douglas and his wife Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton , from the House of Hamilton . His parents founded the Douglas-Hamilton family line .

Early military career

He began a career as an officer in 1684 at the latest. In the Palatinate War of Succession (1688-1697) he fought against the rebellious Jacobites in Ireland and against the French in the Netherlands . Hamilton was made lieutenant colonel in the Lloyds Regiment on Foot of Enniskillen in June 1689 and took part in the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 . He then led his regiment at the Siege of Athlone (June 1691) and the Battle of Aughrim , where he was wounded. After the siege of Limerick (October 1691), he was made Colonel of the Royal Fusiliers in January 1692 . In August 1692 he fought at the Battle of Steenkerke and participated in other battles in Ireland before returning to the continent to take part in the Battle of Landen in July 1693 . In July 1695 he was seriously wounded during the siege of Namur and promoted to the rank of general.

For his services he was awarded the title Earl of Orkney and the subordinate titles Viscount of Kirkwall and Lord Dechmont on January 3, 1696 . The award was made with the special addition that in the absence of male offspring, the titles can also be inherited in the female line.

In the War of the Spanish Succession

In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) he fought under Marlborough in the Netherlands and southern Germany against the French, Spanish and Bavaria. On March 9, 1702 rose to major general , he took part in October 1702 in the siege of Stevensweert . On January 1, 1704, he was promoted to lieutenant general and was appointed Knight of the Thistle Order during this time . He took during the battle of Hochstädt (Engl. Battle of Blenheim , August 13, 1704) in the Division of Lord Cutts on the inclusion of the French garrison in Blenheim part. In the following year his troops marched under Marlborough on the Moselle and in June 1705 stood before Liège , a planned connection to the German imperial contingent did not succeed. Hamilton carried out a successful encirclement maneuver during the Battle of Ramillies (May 23, 1706), pursuing the defeated French forces and taking part in the Siege of Menin in July 1706 . He led a division in the battle of Oudenaarde (July 11, 1708) and carried out an advance on the Scheldt in November 1708 . In the following year he took part in the siege of Tournai (June 1709) and led in the battle of Malplaquet (September 1709) at the head of 15 infantry battalions in an assault on the French entrenchments. In 1710 he was appointed commander of the infantry and in 1711 Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire . In 1712 he returned to the continent and served under the orders of the Duke of Ormonde . His troops were u. a. involved in the sieges of Douai and in 1713 that of Bouchain .

Promotion to field marshal

In 1714 he became Lord of the Bedchamber for King George I and became Governor of Edinburgh Castle . From 1708 to 1737 he was a Scottish Representative Peer member of the House of Lords .

On January 31, 1736 he was raised to Field Marshal together with the Duke of Argyll and Greenwich . At that time it was the first award of this rank in Great Britain. He died on January 29, 1737 at his home on Albemarle Street , London, and was buried in his Taplow Court estate near London. His titles of nobility fell to his eldest daughter.

Marriage and offspring

He was married to his second cousin, Elizabeth Villiers , since 1695 . With her he had three daughters:

• Anne, 2nd Countess of Orkney († 1756), ⚭ William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin ;
• Lady Frances († 1772), ⚭ Thomas Lumley-Saunderson, 3rd Earl of Scarbrough ;
• Lady Henrietta († 1732), ⚭ John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The London Gazette : No. 7476, No. 1 , January 27, 1736.

Literature and web links

• George Barnett Smith: Hamilton, George (1666-1737) . In: Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 24, Smith, Elder, & Co., London 1890, pp. 156-158.
• Field Marshal George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Earl of Orkney 1696-1737	Anne O'Brien