Antoine (or Anthony) Hamilton, comte ( – 1719) was a soldier and a writer of literature. As a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
of Irish and Scottish ancestry, he fled with his family to France during the
Interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands.
The title ...
, which led him into another French exile.
As a soldier he fought in French service in the
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...
(1672–1678) and then in the Irish Army in the
Williamite War
The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...
(1688–1690) where he fought on the losing side in the battles of
Newtownbutler
Newtownbutler or Newtown Butler is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the southeast corner of the county, near Lough Erne, the border with County Monaghan, and the town of Clones. It is surrounded by small lakes and ...
and the Boyne.
As a writer he chose French as his language and adopted a light and elegant style, seeking to amuse and entertain his reader. He is mainly known for the ''Mémoires du Comte de Grammont'', which focuses on the time his brother-in-law
Philibert, comte de Gramont
Philibert, Count de Gramont (1621 – 31 January 1707), was a French courtier and soldier, known as the protagonist of the ''Mémoires'' written by Anthony Hamilton (his brother-in-law). He was a younger half-brother of Antoine III of Gr ...
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
.
Birth and origins
Anthony was born in 1644 or 1645 in Ireland, probably in
Nenagh
Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the ...
, County Tipperary, He was the third son of George Hamilton and his wife Mary Butler. His father was Scottish, the fourth son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn. Anthony's father was an officer in the Irish Army and would in 1660 be created baronet of Donalong and
Nenagh
Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the ...
.
Anthony's mother was Irish, the third daughter of
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (before 1596 – 1619) was the son and heir apparent of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond (1559 – 1633), whom he predeceased. He lived at the Westgate Castle in Thurles, County Tipperary. He was the father of ...
Butler dynasty
Butler ( ga, de Buitléir) is the name of a noble family whose members were, for several centuries, prominent in the administration of the Lordship of Ireland and the Kingdom of Ireland. They rose to their highest prominence as Dukes of Ormonde. ...
, was
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
and descended from Theobald Walter, who had been appointed Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177. Anthony's parents had married in 1629. Ormond had granted Anthony's father in 1640 the manor, castle, town and lands of Nenagh for 31 years. Anthony had five brothers and three sisters, who are listed in his father's article.
Both his parents were Catholic, but some relatives, on his father's as on his mother's side, were
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. His grandfather, James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, had been a Protestant, but his father and all his paternal uncles were raised as Catholics due to the influence of his paternal grandmother, Marion Boyd, a
recusant
Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
. Some branches of the Hamilton family were Protestant, such as that of his father's second cousin Gustavus (1642–1723), who would fight on the other side in the Williamite War. His mother's family, the Butlers, were Catholic with a few exceptions such as the future 1st Duke of Ormond, his maternal uncle. Anthony's eldest brother, James, would turn Protestant when marrying Elizabeth Colepeper in 1661. His brother Thomas seems to have made the same choice as he became a captain in the Royal Navy.
Irish childhood
Before Anthony's birth Phelim O'Neill started the Irish Rebellion in October 1641 in Ulster. In December Phelim burned Strabane Castle, which had been the home of Anthony's aunt Jean Gordon. She was the widow of Hamilton's uncle
Claude Claude may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People and fictional characters
* Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Claude (surname), a list of people
* Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...
, his father's elder brother, who had died in 1638. Phelim sent her and her children to her brother in law, Anthony's father at Nenagh. With the creation of the
Irish Catholic Confederation
Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...
in 1642, the rebellion turned into the Confederate War. In 1643 King Charles I, occupied with the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, asked Anthony's uncle Ormond to negotiate a truce with the Confederates. This truce, called the Cessation, was concluded in September 1643. Ormond was appointed
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
in November 1643, and employed Anthony's father at various administrative and military tasks.
However, in September 1646
Rinuccini Rinuccini is a surname, and may refer to:
*Giovanni Battista Rinuccini (1592–1653), an Italian archbishop.
*Ottavio Rinuccini
Ottavio Rinuccini (20 January 1562 – 28 March 1621) was an Italian poet, courtier, and opera librettist at the end of ...
, the papal nuncio, overthrew the Confederate Supreme Council in a coup d'état with help of
Owen Roe O'Neill
Owen Roe O'Neill (Irish: ''Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill;'' – 1649) was a Gaelic Irish soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster. O'Neill left Ireland at a young age and spent most of his life as a mercenary in the Spanish ...
's Confederate Ulster Army. O'Neill led his army south to Kilkenny, the capital of the Confederates, where he arrived on the 16th. Rinuccini then took power appointing a new Supreme Council on the 26th. The Ulster army had a reputation for living off the inhabitants, even friendly ones, looting, and worse. On 17 September 1646 O'Neill, or more likely some of his troops without him, occupied Rosscrea. Some say that little Anthony, his mother and his elder siblings were there. However, it is more likely that they were at Nenagh and that the Lady Hamilton who was spared by the ulstermen at Roscrea was his aunt, not his mother.
In 1649, during the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...
, Hamilton's father was colonel of an infantry regiment and governor of Nenagh. He defended Nenagh Castle in November 1650 when it was attacked and captured by the Parliamentarian army under
Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton ((baptised) 3 November 1611 – 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 16 ...
on the way back from their unsuccessful siege of Limerick to their winter quarters at
Kilkenny
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilken ...
.
First French exile
In spring 1651, when Anthony was about seven years old, his father followed his brother-in-law, Ormond, from Ireland into French exile. They first went to
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Elizabeth Preston, the Marchioness of Ormond. His father and his elder brothers,
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
and
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
, were soon employed by Charles II in various functions. His mother then moved to Paris where she found shelter in the convent of the
Feuillantines
The Feuillants were a Catholic congregation originating in the 1570s as a reform group within the Cistercians in its namesake Les Feuillants Abbey in France, which declared itself an independent order.
In 1630 it separated into a French branch ( ...
, together with her sister Eleanor Butler, Lady Muskerry. Anthony's sister Elizabeth was sent to the boarding school of the convent of
Port-Royal-des-Champs
Port-Royal-des-Champs was an abbey of Cistercian nuns in Magny-les-Hameaux, in the Vallée de Chevreuse southwest of Paris that launched a number of culturally important institutions.
History
The abbey was established in 1204, but became fa ...
, near Versailles together with Lady Muskerry's daughter
Helen
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen, ...
. It may be that Anthony was left behind in Caen to be taught together with his Ormond cousins
Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory
Vice-Admiral Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, KG, PC, PC (Ire) (1634–1680) was an Irish soldier and politician. He was the eldest son of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond but predeceased his father and therefore never succeeded as duke. ...
He and his family returned to London in 1660 with the advent of the English
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
. His father was created Baronet Donalong in 1660 by Charles II, but Charles refused to go further than that because the family was Catholic.
He, his eldest brother James, his sister Elizabeth, and his younger brother George became courtiers in the inner circle at Whitehall. The King arranged a Protestant marriage for James in 1691.
In January 1663 Anthony met at Whitehall Philibert, chevalier de Gramont, a French exile. De Gramont was already in his forties and a younger half-brother of the duc de Gramont,
Marshal of France
Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...
. The chevalier de Gramont had got into trouble at the French court by courting Mademoiselle Anne-Lucie de la Mothe-Houdancourt, on whom Louis XIV had set his eyes.
He befriended de Gramont, who quickly became part of the court's inner circles. Gramont courted his sister Elizabeth, "La belle Hamilton", who was seduced by Gramont's verbiage and gallantry. Philibert married her in London in December 1663 or early in 1664. The couple had a son on 7 September, but he died as an infant. In March 1664, having heard of de Gramont's marriage, Louis XIV allowed him to return.
Second French exile
In 1667, his brother George refused to take the
oath of supremacy
The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Failure to do so was to be treated as treasonable. The Oath of Supremacy was ori ...
and went to France. George recruited a regiment in Ireland for French service and fought in the
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...
(1672–1678). Anthony followed George to France in 1667 and took service in that regiment.
He probably fought with George under
Turenne
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...
in the
Battle of Sinsheim
The Battle of Sinsheim took place on 16 June 1674 during the 1672-1678 Franco-Dutch War. An Imperial force commanded by Aeneas de Caprara was marching towards Heidelberg, in order to join their main army under Alexander von Bournonville. It was ...
in June 1674, and did quite surely so at
Entzheim
Entzheim (; ) is a commune, in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Strasbourg Airport is located in the commune.
Climate
The climate is oceanic (Köppen: ''Cfb''), more extreme than most other French cities. The ...
in October against Imperial troops under the Duke von Bournonville as he and George were both wounded at that battle. George's and Anthony's wounds and the voyage to England, described below, undertaken by the three brothers, caused them to miss Turenne's winter campaign 1674/1675, during which the French marched south and surprised the Imperialists by attacking Upper Alsace, winning the
Battle of Turckheim
The Battle of Turckheim was a battle during the Franco-Dutch War that occurred on 5 January 1675 at a site between the towns of Colmar and Turckheim in Alsace. The French army, commanded by the Viscount of Turenne, defeated the armies of Aust ...
on 5 January 1675.
In March 1675 he visited England with George and his younger brother Richard, who had also taken French service. George returned to France from England, but Anthony and Richard continued to Ireland to recruit for the regiment. The recruits were picked up by French ships at
Kinsale
Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...
in April after a missed appointment at
Dingle
Dingle (Irish language, Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coas ...
in March.
On 27 July 1675 Anthony probably fought with George at Sasbach, where Turenne was killed. Two of Turenne's general officers considered themselves second in command: Count
Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges
Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges, Marshal of France, (1630–1702) fought in the Franco-Dutch War mostly on the Rhine under his uncle Marshal Turenne, but in 1673 he was seconded to the Siege of Maastricht. Back on the Rhine, he fought ...
and the marquis de Vaubrun. At the retreat from Sasbach and the Battle of Altenheim in August the French army was therefore commanded by both until Vaubrun was killed in that battle on 1 August 1676. Finally arrived the new commander, Condé, whom the King had appointed. However, Condé was old and was soon replaced by
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. George was killed in June 1676 while commanding Luxembourg's rear-guard at the Zaberner Steige where imperial troops under
Charles V, Duke of Lorraine
Charles V, Duke of Lorraine and Bar (french: Charles Léopold Nicolas Sixte; german: Karl V Leopold; 3 April 1643 – 18 April 1690) succeeded his uncle Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine as titular Duke of Lorraine and Bar in 1675; both duchies were ...
pursued the French who were retreating eastward to
Saverne
Saverne (french: Saverne, ; Alsatian: ; german: Zabern ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (27& ...
in lower
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
.217 /> Anthony succeeded to his brother's French title of ''comte d'Hamilton''.
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
calls him "comte" in his note of 1739.573 /> The
Peace of Nijmegen
The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ('; german: Friede von Nimwegen) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republi ...
of 1678 ended the Franco-Dutch War and Anthony seems to have returned to Ireland.
According to the majority view, the comte d'Hamilton, as he now was, visited France in 1681 and played one of six zephyrs needed in the performance of
Quinault Quinault may refer to:
* Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast
**Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe
**Quinault language, their language
People
* Quinault family of actors, including
* Jean-Baptis ...
's ballet the ''Triomphe de l'Amour'', to music by
Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...
, on 21 January 1681 N.S. at the
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a former royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the ''département'' of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the ''musée d'Archéologie nationale'' (Nati ...
before the king. However, some believe it was Richard.
Ireland
In 1685 James II acceded to the English throne and appointed
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell PC (c. 1630 – 14 August 1691) was an Irish politician, courtier and soldier.
Talbot's early career was spent as a cavalryman in the Irish Confederate Wars. Following a period on the Continent, he joined ...
commander of the Irish army. Tyrconnell, a Catholic, recruited Anthony Hamilton and his younger brothers Richard and
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
. Anthony was appointed lieutenant-colonel of Sir Thomas Newcomen's regiment. Later in that same year he was appointed governor of Limerick where his regiment was garrisoned, replacing Sir William King, a Protestant. Shortly he demonstrated his Catholicism when he went publicly to
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
.
In 1688, at the eve of the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
, he was sent with his battalion to England in an effort to provide James with reliable Catholic troops. After James's flight Hamilton made his way back to Ireland where he was promoted to major-general and given the command of the dragoons, under
Justin McCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel
Justin McCarthy, 1st Viscount Mountcashel, PC (Ire) ( – 1694), was a Jacobite general in the Williamite War in Ireland and a personal friend of James II. He commanded Irish Army troops during the conflict, enjoying initial success ...
, in actions around Enniskillen. At some stage his unit was garrisoned in
Belturbet
Belturbet (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It lies on the N3 road, around north of Cavan town and from Dublin. It is also located around south of the border with Northern Ireland, between the counties of Cavan and Fermanagh, and fr ...
, County Cavan. In the
battle of Newtownbutler
The Battle of Newtownbutler took place near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1689 and was part of the Williamite War in Ireland between the forces of William III and Mary II and those of King James II.
The war in Western Ulst ...
on 31 July 1689, serving under McCarthy, he was wounded in the leg at the beginning of the action, and his dragoons were routed. He succeeded in making good his escape. Hamilton was considered to have led his dragoons into an ambush by over-confidence; and to have made minimal efforts to extricate them. With Captain Lavallin from Cork he served as scapegoat for the defeat, being subjected to a
court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
under General de Rosen. Given his family's influence Hamilton was acquitted, while the hapless Lavallin was shot. However, the reputations of the Hamilton brothers had suffered terminal damage with the French.
Anthony Hamilton fought in the cavalry at the
battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and ...
on 1 July 1690. He also took part in the
Siege of Limerick (1690)
Limerick, a city in western Ireland, was besieged twice in the Williamite War in Ireland in 1689-1691. On the first occasion, in August to September 1690, its Jacobite defenders retreated to the city after their defeat at the Battle of the Bo ...
and when William had to raise the siege in autumn, Tyrconnell sent him to France to report the victory. He does not seem to have returned to Ireland and was absent at the
Battle of Aughrim
The Battle of Aughrim ( ga, Cath Eachroma) was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Jacobite army loyal to James II and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 (old style, equivale ...
on 12 July 1691 where his youngest brother, John, was mortally wounded.
Final French exile and timeline
He spent the last thirty years of his life mainly at the court of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, with visits to the châteaux of his friends and to Les Moulineaux, his sister Elizabeth's house at Versailles. From his years in Ireland he was a friend of the
Duke of Berwick
Duke of Berwick () ''()'' is a title that was created in the Peerage of England on 19 March 1687 for James FitzJames, the illegitimate son of James II and VII, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland and Arabella Churchill. The title's name ...
. He became an especial favourite with Ludovise, duchesse du Maine, and it was at her seat at Sceaux that he wrote the ''Mémoires'' that made him famous. In 1701 he accompanied Berwick on a mission to Rome to obtain the support of the new pope,
Clement XI
Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721.
Clement XI w ...
for the Jacobite cause. In May 1703 his sister Elizabeth was given a house called Les Moulineaux, where he visited her often and which became a centre of his social world. In 1707 his friend the comte de Gramont died. On 3 June 1708 his sister Elizabeth, the comtesse de Gramont died in Paris. He never married and died at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 20 April 1719.
Works
Antoine Hamilton is mainly known for a single book: the ''Mémoires du Comte de Grammont''. After this followed some shorter works among which the four short stories: ''Le Bélier'', ''Fleur d'Epine'', ''Zénéyde'', and ''Les quatre Facardins''.
Memoirs
Anthony Hamilton wrote the ''Mémoires du Comte de Gramont'' between 1704 and 1710 at the age of 59 to 65. This work made Hamilton one of the classical writers of France. The tone of the work, however, is now thought equivocal. By highlighting the brilliance of the London Restoration court, the book threw into relief the lacklustre nature of the exiled Stuart court. It has even been said to share something with the anti-jacobite polemic written against the court of James II at St Germain by
John Macky
John Macky (died 1726) was a Scottish spy. He was the first person to inform the British authorities of James II's intended invasion of England in 1692 after the former king had fled from France to England. In October 1693 he was made inspector o ...
.
The book starts with the sentence (as translated by
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
):
As those who read only for amusement are, in my opinion, more worthy of attention than those who open a book merely to find a fault, to the former I address myself, and for their entertainment commit the following pages to press, without being in the least concerned about the severe criticism of the latter.
The work was said to have been written at Gramont's dictation, but Hamilton's share is obvious and the book situates itself at the cross-roads between memoirs, biography, and fiction.
The work was first published anonymously in 1713, apparently without Hamilton's knowledge. The first English translation is the one by
Abel Boyer
Abel Boyer (1667? – 16 November 1729) was a French-English lexicographer, journalist and miscellaneous writer.
Biography
Abel Boyer was probably born on 24 June 1667 at Castres, in Upper Languedoc, southern France. His father, Pierre Boyer, o ...
, which appeared in 1714. Walpole's translation is the classical one and used in many editions. It seem it has been published for the first time in 1773 at Strawberry Hill Press.
Peter Quennell
Sir Peter Courtney Quennell (9 March 1905 – 27 October 1993) was an English biographer, literary historian, editor, essayist, poet, and critic. He wrote extensively on social history.
Life
Born in Bickley, Kent, the son of architect C. H ...
retranslated the Memoirs in 1930. It was published accompanied with extensive commentary by Cyril Hughes Hartmann.
Other works
In imitation and satiric parody of the romantic tales that
Antoine Galland
Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of '' One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called ''Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the t ...
's translation of ''Thousand and One Nights'' had brought into fashion, Hamilton wrote, partly for the amusement of Henrietta Bulkley, sister of Anne, Duchess of Berwick, to whom he was much attached, four ironic and extravagant ''contes'' (fairy tales): ''Le Bélier'', ''Fleur d'Epine'', ''Zénéyde'' and ''Les quatre Facardins''. The saying in ''Le Belier'', "Belier, mon ami, tu me ferais plaisir si tu voulais commencer par le commencement," passed into a proverb. These tales were circulated privately during Hamilton's lifetime. The first three were published in Paris in 1730, ten years after the author's death; a collection of his ''Œuvres diverses'' in 1731 contained the unfinished ''Zénéyde''. An 1849 omnibus entitled ''Fairy Tales and Romances'' contained English translations of all his fiction.
Hamilton also wrote some songs, and exchanged amusing verses with the
Duke of Berwick
Duke of Berwick () ''()'' is a title that was created in the Peerage of England on 19 March 1687 for James FitzJames, the illegitimate son of James II and VII, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland and Arabella Churchill. The title's name ...
. In the name of his niece, the countess of Stafford, Hamilton maintained a witty correspondence with
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...