James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn

James was born on 12 August 1575,[1] probably at Paisley, as the eldest son of Claud Hamilton and his wife Margaret Seton. His father was the first Lord Paisley.[2] His paternal grandfather was James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran. James's mother was a daughter of George Seton, 6th Lord Seton.[2][3] Both parents were Scottish. They married in 1574.[3] Several of his siblings died in their infancy or childhood.[4] Six reached adulthood:[5]

He heads the list of siblings below as the eldest:

1. James (1575–1618), the subject of this article;
2. John, who married Johanna Everard, daughter of Levimus Everard;[6]
3. Claud (died 1614), of Shawfield, who was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland,[7] and whose daughter Margaret married Sir John Stewart of Methven;[8]
4. George (died before 1657) of Greenlaw and Roscrea, who lived at Derrywoone Castle in County Tyrone;[9]
5. Frederick (1590–1647), who built Manorhamilton and served Sweden in the Thirty Years' War;[10]
6. Margaret (died 1623), who married William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas.

Shortly before or in 1592 he married Marion, daughter of Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd.[11] She was a close friend of Anne of Denmark. In May 1603 Anne of Denmark came to Stirling Castle hoping to collect her son Prince Henry, who was in the keeping of the Earl of Mar. Anne fainted at dinner and when Jean Drummond and Marion Boyd, Mistress of Paisley, carried her to bed she had a miscarriage. The lawyer Thomas Haddington wrote an account of these events, and said the queen had told her physician Martin Schöner and the Mistress of Paisley that she had taken "some balm water that hastened her abort".[12] She was a prominent Roman Catholic and would in 1628 be excommunicated by the synod of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow.[13] after his death. They had nine children, five boys and four girls:

1. Anne (1592–1620), who married Hugh Sempill, 5th Lord Sempill in 1611;[14]
2. Isobel (1600–1620);[15]
3. James (died c. 1670), who became the 2nd Earl of Abercorn;
4. Claud (died 1638), who established himself in Ireland;
5. William (died 1681), who became Baronet Hamilton of Westport and represented Henrietta Maria, Charles I's widow, at the pope;[16][17][18]
6. George (c. 1607 – 1679), who became Baronet Hamilton of Donalong;[19]
7. Lucy (born before 1618), for whom a marriage was arranged with Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim, but the wedding never took place;
8. Alexander (died before 4 May 1669), who founded the German branch of the family;[20] and
9. Margaret (died 1642), who married Sir William Cunninghame of Caprington.[21]

In 1597, he sat for Linlithgow in the Parliament of Scotland. He was also made a Gentleman of the Bedchamber and a member of the Privy Council to James VI of Scotland. In 1600, the King created him hereditary Sheriff of Linlithgow. [23]

On 24 March 1603 James VI also became King of England, as James I, and from there on reigned both kingdoms in personal union.

On 5 April 1603, James Hamilton was created Lord Abercorn, of Linlithgowshire.[24] This made him the first of the long line of earls, then marquesses, and finally dukes of Abercorn.

In 1604, he served on a royal commission established to consider the union of the crowns of England and Scotland.[25] Although the project failed, the king was content with his services. He received large grants of lands in Scotland.

On 10 April 1606 he was further honoured by being created Earl of Abercorn and Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick.[26][27] The family tree shows how the title was inherited moving at the death of the 3rd Earl to the eldest descendant of the 2nd son, Claud, and then at the death of the 5th Earl to the eldest descendants of his 4th son, George.

He and his brothers Claud and George were undertakers in James VI and I's 1611 Plantations of Ireland.[28] He was given pieces of land called Strabane, Donnalonge and Shean in County Tyrone that had been confiscated from the O'Neill clan.[29] He built a castle at Strabane.[30] His brother Claude, called "of Shawfield", was given land in County Cavan. His brother George, called "of Greenlaw and Rosscrea", would found the village of Ballymagorry, 4.9 kilometres (3.0 mi) north of Strabane, where the townland of Greenlaw is, and build the castle or manor of Derrywoone, situated on the present-day Baronscourt estate.

On 11 March 1613/4, he was summoned to attend the Parliament of Ireland and was granted the precedence of an earl in Ireland (confirmed by royal warrant on 31 March), although he had never been created a peer in that realm. He was appointed to the Council of Munster on 20 May 1615.[31]

Lord Abercorn died on 23 March 1618, at Monkton, Ayrshire, Scotland, and was buried on 29 April 1618 in the church of Paisley Abbey.[32][33][34][lower-alpha 1] He predeceased his father by three years and therefore never became Lord Paisley, but, having been created Earl of Abercorn, he did not miss this title. His eldest son, James, immediately succeeded him as the 2nd Earl of Abercorn. His widow died in Edinburgh in 1632.[35]