TheClan Hamilton, orHouse of Hamilton, is aScottish clan of theScottish Lowlands.[1]
The Hamilton chiefs descend fromWalter fitz Gilbert of Hambledon, who appears in a charter to theMonastery of Paisley in about 1294.[1] His lands appear to have originally been inRenfrewshire, however, his support forRobert the Bruce rewarded him with lands inLanarkshire and theLothians.[1] These lands included Cadzow, which later became the town ofHamilton, South Lanarkshire.[1]
Chief among the legends still clinging to this important family is that which gives a descent from theHouse of Beaumont, a branch of which is stated to have held the manor ofHamilton, Leicestershire; and it is argued that the three cinquefoils of the Hamilton shield bear some resemblance to the single cinquefoils of the Beaumonts. In face of this it has been recently shown that the single cinquefoil was also borne by the Umfravilles of Northumberland, who appear to have owned a place called Hamilton in that county. It may be pointed out thatSimon de Montfort, the great earl of Leicester, in whose veins flowed the blood of the Beaumonts, obtained about 1245 the wardship ofGilbert de Umfraville, second earl of Angus, and it is conceivable that this name Gilbert may somehow be responsible for the legend of the Beaumont descent, seeing that the first authentic ancestor of the Hamiltons is one Walter FitzGilbert. He first appears in 1294–1295 as one of the witnesses to a charter by James, the high steward of Scotland, to the monks of Paisley; and in 1296 his name appears in the Homage Roll as Walter FitzGilbert of "Hameldone." Who this Gilbert of "Hameldone" may have been is uncertain.
— Encyclopædia Britannica (1911).[2]
Walter Fitz Gilbert was rewarded with lands for his support of king Robert the Bruce.[1] Walter's son, David, fought at theBattle of Neville's Cross forDavid II of Scotland in 1346.[1] David was captured and was not released until a substantial ransom was paid.[1]
In 1474,James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, married Princess Mary, daughter ofJames II of Scotland[1] Their son wasJames Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran.[1] The family extendedBrodick Castle on theIsle of Arran.[1] The second Earl of Arran,James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, was heir to the throne of bothJames IV of Scotland andMary, Queen of Scots.[1] He was made regent of Scotland while the queen was still a child and proposed to marry his son to her, in order to secure his claim to the throne.[1] At this time,Friar Mark Hamilton wrote a family history.[3][4]
However, the royal marriage did not take place and Mary married an heir to the French throne instead.[1] James Hamilton was created Duke of Châtellerault because he had figured prominently in the marriage negotiations withFrance.[1] In 1561, he was sent into exile for five years because he openly opposed Mary's marriage toHenry Stuart, Lord Darnley, having had his hopes rekindled when Mary's marriage ended upon the death of the Dauphin of France.[1]
James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh was aScottish supporter ofMary, Queen of Scots, whoassassinatedJames Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, in January 1570.[5]
The 4th Earl of Arran,James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton, becameLord Chancellor of Scotland and was made keeper of both of the strategic royal castles;Edinburgh Castle andStirling Castle.[1] He had been advanced to the rank of marquess in 1599.[1] His brother wasClaud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley, who had been createdLord Paisley in 1587 and later Lord Abercorn.[1] This branch of the family also prospered and Abercorn was advanced to an earldom and later a dukedom in 1868.[1]
The third Marquess,James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, was a staunch supporter ofCharles I.[1] Charles rewarded him with the dukedom in 1643, which made Hamilton the premier peer in Scotland.[1] Hamilton led a royalist army into England but was defeated at theBattle of Preston (1648) by the Parliamentarians ofOliver Cromwell.[1] Hamilton was later executed in 1649 atWhitehall, shortly before the king met the same fate.[1] Hamilton's brother,William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton, was also a brave soldier but was killed at theBattle of Worcester in 1651.[1] The title passed toAnne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, daughter of the first Duke.[1] She was a woman of great intellect but she inherited estates heavily burdened by debt.[1] Matters were made worse with her kinsman Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn, challenged her right to succeed to the title.[1] Anne marriedWilliam Douglas, 1st Earl of Selkirk (later Duke of Hamilton).[1] Their son wasJames Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, who was killed in acontroversial duel in London in 1712.[1]
Hamilton Palace inHamilton, South Lanarkshire, had been the family's seat from the 13th century. Built byDuchess Anne and her husband,William Douglas, 3rd Duke of Hamilton, it had the distinction of being one of the largest non-royal palaces in Europe, reaching its greatest extent under the 10th and 11th dukes in the mid nineteenth century.
Excessive subsidence of the palace caused by the family's mines led to its condemnation and demolition in 1921.[1] The 13th Duke then moved toDungavel House, nearStrathaven. This was where deputy-führerRudolf Hess aimed to reach during his doomed peace mission to seeDouglas, 14th Duke of Hamilton, in 1941.
In 1947, Dungavel was sold to the coal board, and then on to the government, which turned it into anopen prison. Currently, it is the site of a controversial holding centre forasylum-seekers.
The family moved toLennoxlove House inEast Lothian, which remains the residence of the current Duke.[1]
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.png) | Hamyltownetartan, as published in 1842 inVestiarium Scoticum;note: the modern thread count calls for more than one white line. |
Malcolm Hamilton Archbishop of Cashel, first son wasHugh Hamilton, 1st Viscount of Glenawly, a soldier in Swedish service, who in Sweden was created baron of Deserf. Captain John Hamilton of Monea was Malcolm's younger son. His sons, Malcolm and Hugo, went to Swedish service in 1655 and were in 1689 created barons of Hagaby. They stayed in Swedish service and Malcolm's sonGustaf David Hamilton was named the title of count in 1751, and in 1765 he gained the rank of field marshal.
John Jack Hamilton was born on 13 August 1640 in Dromore,Kirkcudbright, South Scotland. He joint theScots Brigade and served as the palfrenier to the Governor of's-Hertogenbosch, John Kirkpatrick. In 1679 he married Maria Wijgherganck. He is the progenitor of the Dutch branch of the Hamilton family.
John James Hamilton [de] (1642–1717) went afterGlorious Revolution to Germany, where he served forPhilip William, Elector Palatine.
The last of his descendants wasMaximilian von Hamilton,Bishop of Olomouc (1714–1776).
Alexander Hamilton, one of theFounding Fathers of the United States, was the grandson of Alexander Hamilton, thelaird ofGrange,Ayrshire, who was himself descendant of the Cambuskeith branch of Clan Hamilton. His Y-DNA Haplogroup wasI1a.[6][7]
Descendants of thisbranch have been recorded to the sixth generation in the United States and likely survive today.
The Hamilton DNA Project, involving hundreds of participants including a close relative of the current Duke of Abercorn, has made significant contributions to understanding the genetic lineage of Clan Hamilton. The genetic research conducted by the Hamilton DNA Project has demonstrated that all Hamilton branches descending fromSir James Hamilton, 5th Laird of Cadzow, who is the progenitor of both the mentioned branches of the Dukes of Abercorn and the Dukes of Hamilton until 1895, belong to the Y-DNAHaplogroup I-Z63. This finding suggests a most recent common ancestor for these branches who lived about 750 years ago.[8][9]
YY was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).| Clans with chiefs |
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| Armigerous clans |
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