Colonel James Hamilton (died 1673) was the son of an Irish army officer and became a courtier to Charles II after the

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 ...

. He appears in the ''Mémoires du Comte de Grammont'', written by his brother

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...

. The king appointed him ranger of

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

and a groom of his bedchamber. In 1673 Hamilton lost a leg in a sea-fight with the Dutch and died from the wound a few days later. In 1701 his eldest son succeeded a cousin as 6th Earl of Abercorn.

Birth and origins

James was born in the 1630s in Ireland. He was the eldest son of George Hamilton and his wife Mary Butler. His father was Scottish, the fourth son of

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn PC (S) (1575–1618) was a Scottish diplomat for James VI and an undertaker in the Plantation of Ulster, Ireland. Birth and origins James was born on 12 August 1575, probabl ...

, 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 ...

. James's mother was 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 ...

and a sister of the future 1st Duke of Ormond. Her family, the

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. His parents had married in 1629. He had five brothers and three sisters, who are listed in his father's article. James's parents have often been confused with another George Hamilton, married with another Mary Butler. These are his father's uncle Sir

George Hamilton of Greenlaw and Roscrea Sir George Hamilton of Greenlaw and Roscrea (died before 1657) was an undertaker in the Plantation of Ulster. Born and bred in Scotland, by 1611 he had moved to Ireland with his Scottish wife to occupy his plantation grant. In 1630 he married ...

and his wife Mary, sixth daughter of

Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond Sir Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond and 4th Earl of Ossory (1559–1633), succeeded his uncle the 10th earl, in 1614. He was called "Walter of the Beads" because he was a devout Catholic, whereas his uncle had been a Protestant. King James ...

. This other George Hamilton lived in Roscrea. 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,

, 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 Scottish

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 become the 1st Viscount Boyne. His mother's family, the Butlers, were generally Catholic with the notable exception of the future 1st Duke of Ormond, his maternal uncle. He himself would later turn Protestant as will be seen below. His brother Thomas seems to have made the same choice as he became a captain in the Royal Navy.

Irish wars and exile

His father served in the Irish army under his brother-in-law James Butler, Earl of Ormond, in the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

(1641–1648) and 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 ...

(1649–1653). It has long been believed that James, aged about 16 or 17, his mother and siblings lived in

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland, which in 2016 had a population of 5,446. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Saint Crónán of Roscrea, parts of which rem ...

, County Tipperary, and were spared when on 17 September 1646, the Confederate Ulster army under

Owen O'Neill Owen O'Neill is a Northern Irish writer, actor, director, and comedian. Early life O'Neill was born, the third eldest of 16 children, in Cookstown, Northern Ireland. He has drawn on his upbringing in Cookstown for some of his more colourful ch ...

captured Roscrea Castle from the Munster confederates and killed everybody else in the castle. It seems that this Lady Hamilton was not James's mother but his aunt, the wife of Sir George Hamilton of Greenlaw and Roscrea, while James, his mother, and siblings were safe in

, west of Roscrea. This confusion was already made by Carte (1737) and repeated by later authors. On 28 July 1647 Ormond abandoned Dublin to the parliamentarians and left Ireland. In 1648 Phelim O'Neill stormed Nenagh taking it for O'Neill and Rinuccini, but it was still in the same year recaptured by

Inchiquin Inchiquin ( ga, Inse Uí Chuinn) is a barony in County Clare, Ireland.Placenames Database of ...

, who was now allied with the royalists. What role James and his father played in these events is not known. In 1650, his father was governor of

Castle when 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 ...

attacked and captured the castle on the way back from the 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 ...

. Early in 1651, when he was about 21, his family followed Ormond 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. He seems then to have been employed at Charles II's wandering exile court in some ways, whereas his mother went to Paris, where she lived 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.

Restoration

James returned with his parents and siblings from France to London in 1660 with the advent of the English

. They were now well connected at court. His father was created Baronet Donalong in 1660 by Charles II.

Hyde Park

James was appointed ranger of

on 19 September 1660 following the death, on 13 September 1660, of

Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947, the only memb ...

, the king's brother, who had held this office. While a ranger, he built a partial enclosure of Hyde Park and re-stocked with deer. He was given a triangular piece of ground at the southeast corner of the park where the street called Hamilton Place, named after him, is now. 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 '' ...

buildings were erected for the first time between what is now Old Regent Street and

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the junc ...

. After the Restoration they were leased to James Hamilton. A new lease of 99 years would be obtained by Elizabeth, his widow, in 1692.

Courtier

James was known for his fine manners, his elegant dress, and his gallantry. His brother, Anthony Hamilton, describes him in the ''Mémoires du comte de Grammont'' as follows (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 ...

The elder of the Hamiltons, their cousin, was the man who of all the court dressed best: he was well made in his person, and possessed those happy talents which lead to fortune, and procure success in love: he was a most assiduous courtier, had the most lively wit, the most polished manners and the most punctual attention for his master imaginable: no person danced better, nor was any one a more general lover: a merit of some account in a court entirely devoted to love and gallantry.

An admirer of the Countess of Chesterfield, his first cousin, he carried on a romance with her by turning her husband's suspicion on the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

, the future King James II, only to discover that York was courting her as well.

Marriage and children

The king himself obtained for him the hand of Elizabeth, daughter of

John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper John Colepeper, 1st Baron Culpeper ( – 11 July 1660) was an English peer, military officer and politician who, as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1642–43) and Master of the Rolls (1643) was an influential counsellor of King Charles I during t ...

, one of the maids of honour to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, the Princess Royal. As the bride was a Protestant, he changed religion just before the marriage, which took place in 1661. His mother, a devout Catholic had in vain tried to dissuade him. James and Elizabeth had three sons: #

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 ...

(c. 16611734), succeeded a second cousin as the 6th

Earl of Abercorn Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

#George (died 1692), became a colonel in the foot guards and fell in the

Battle of Steenkerque The Battle of Steenkerque, also known as ''Steenkerke'', ''Steenkirk'' or ''Steinkirk'' was fought on 3 August 1692, during the Nine Years' War, near Steenkerque, then part of the Spanish Netherlands but now in modern Belgium A French force ...

#William (after 1662 – 1737), married his cousin Margaret Colepeper and became the ancestor of the Hamiltons of Chilston

Later life, death, succession, and timeline

His conversion opened him a career in the English Army. He was appointed colonel of a regiment of foot. Compliance avoided him problems similar to those experienced by his younger brother

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 Presiden ...

, who was dismissed from the Life Guards in 1667 due to his religion and then took French service. Anthony and Richard, the third and the fifth of the brothers, followed George into French service. He was appointed

groom of the bedchamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...

on 28 October 1664, taking the place of Daniel O'Neill who had died on 24 October. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

for the Constituency of Strabane and sat as Member of Parliament (M.P.) in

Chichester House Chichester House or Carew's House was a building in College Green (formerly Hoggen Green), Dublin, Ireland, used in the 17th century to house the Parliament of Ireland. Originally built to be a hospital, it was never used as such. At one time ...

between 3 July and 7 August 1666. On 21 August 1667 he was appointed Provost Marshal-General of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. This was a sinecure, which provided him an income without any duty. He never travelled to the island. He was killed in the

Third Anglo-Dutch War The Third Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Derde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog), 27 March 1672 to 19 February 1674, was a naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France. It is considered a subsidiary of the wider 1672 to 1678 ...

. One of his legs was hit by a cannonball on 3 June 1673 when the ship on which he and his regiment were embarked came under fire from the Dutch. He died three days later, on 6 June 1673, of the consequences of this wound. The incident happened four days before the first

Battle of Schooneveld The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 (New Style; 28 May and 4 June in the Julian calendar then in use in England) between an allied Angl ...

, which was fought on 7 June 1673. He was buried on 7 June in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

where his uncle

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was a statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failure ...

, erected a monument to his memory. His wife died in 1709. Despite being the eldest son, he never inherited his father's titles and land as his father outlived him by six years. However, on 2 December 1701 his eldest son, James, on the death of a second cousin, the last heir-male of the main line of the Abercorns, became the 6th Earl of Abercorn.

Notes and References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * – 1643 to 1660 * – Marriages, baptisms and burials from about 1660 to 1875 * * * – Ab-Adam to Basing * * – England * – Scotland and Ireland * – (for timeline) * – 1660 to 1661 * * * * * * * * * * – 1 April 1661 to 31 December 1662 * – Abercorn to Balmerino * * * * – 1643 to 1685 * – Westminster and the western suburbs * * – 1643 to 1660 and index

External links

The lost Settlement of DunnalongRobert O. Bucholz Database of Court Officers 1660 – 1837 Loyola University of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, James 1630s births 1673 deaths Burials at Westminster Abbey Cavaliers English army officers Heirs apparent who never acceded Military personnel of the Anglo-Dutch Wars Year of birth uncertain