James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn

James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn, PC (Ire) (c. 1661 – 28 November 1734) was a Scottish and Irish peer and politician. Appointed a groom of the bedchamber to Charles II after the death of his father in battle, he took the Willamite side at the Glorious Revolution and helped relieve Derry. Shortly after inheriting a Scottish and Irish peerage from a second cousin, he was created a Viscount in Ireland for his services to the Williamite cause.

Life

He was the son of Col. James Hamilton and Elizabeth Colepeper, daughter of John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper.^[1] His father was a groom of the bedchamber to Charles II of England, who died in 1673 of a wound received at the Battle of Schooneveld. The younger James was compensated by an appointment as an extra groom of the bedchamber on 18 April 1680.^[2] Charles II issued a warrant on 22 January 1683/4 to create Hamilton "Baron Hamilton of Bellamont", county Dublin, in the Irish peerage, but it never passed the seals,^[3] and his post in the bedchamber terminated on the king's death in 1685.^[2]

He reportedly held a commission in the Army of James II but, being a Protestant, deserted him for the cause of William at the Glorious Revolution. A captain in William's army, he was sent to bring supplies to the defence of Londonderry in March 1689. Between 1692 and 1699, he represented Tyrone in the Irish House of Commons.^[1] He succeeded to his grandfather's baronetcy in 1697, but did not use the title. Upon the death of his second cousin Charles in June 1701, he succeeded him as Earl of Abercorn and Baron Hamilton of Strabane. He was rewarded by William with the titles of Viscount Strabane and Baron Mountcastle, in the Peerage of Ireland, on 2 December 1701. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords (as Viscount Strabane) on 21 September 1703, and the Parliament of Scotland (as Earl of Abercorn) on 3 October 1706. By April 1711, he had been appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland, on which he served until his death on 28 November 1734. Abercorn was buried on 3 December in the Ormonde vault of the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.^[1]

Family

He married Elizabeth Reading, daughter of Sir Robert Reading, 1st Baronet and Jane Hannay, widow of Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Mountrath, in January 1683/4.^[1] They had nine sons and five daughters:

• Robert Hamilton, baptized 12 July 1687, died soon after
• James Hamilton, 7th Earl of Abercorn (1686–1744)
• Robert Hamilton, died an infant
• Hon. John Hamilton (c. 1694–1714), unmarried
• George Hamilton, died an infant
• Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, married firstly on 2 January 1711 William Brownlow (died 1739), and married secondly in 1741 Martin, Comte de Kearnie
• Jane Hamilton, died an infant
• Hon. George Hamilton (died 1775), married and had issue
• Lady Mary Hamilton (born before 1704), married in January 1719 Henry Colley of Carbury Castle, County Kildare and had issue
• Lady Philippa Hamilton (died 27 January 1767), married Rev. Benjamin Pratt (d. 1721) without issue, married Michael O'Connell of London and had one son
• Lady Jane Hamilton (before 1704 – 6 December 1753), married on 29 September 1719 as his third wife Archibald Douglas-Hamilton (d. 1754)
• Rev. Hon. Francis Hamilton (1700–1746), married and had issue
• Hon. William Hamilton (1703–1721), lost aboard HMS Royal Anne Galley
• Hon. Charles Hamilton (1704–1786), married and had issue

Notes

References

• Cokayne, George E. (1910). Gibbs, Vicary, ed. The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. I, Ab-Adam to Basing. London: St. Catherine Press.
• Cokayne, George E. (1998). Hammond, Peter W., ed. The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. XIV, Addenda and Corrigenda. London: St. Catherine Press. p. 2.

External links

• thePeerage.com