Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet, Of Donalong

Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet of Donalong and Nenagh ( – 1679), born in Scotland, inherited land in Ireland and fought in the Irish Army under his brother-in-law James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond in the Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, during which he defended Nenagh Castle against Henry Ireton. Hamilton was father of Antoine Hamilton, author of the ''Mémoires du Comte de Grammont'', of Richard Hamilton, Jacobite general, and of Elizabeth, Countess de Gramont, "la belle Hamilton".

Birth and origins

George was born about 1608, probably in Paisley, near Glasgow, Scotland. He was the fourth son of James Hamilton and his wife Marion Boyd. His father had been created 1st Earl of Abercorn by James VI and I in 1606. His paternal grandfather was Claud Hamilton, the 1st Lord of Paisley.

George's mother was the eldest daughter of Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock in Scotland. Both grandfathers fought in 1568 at Langside for Mary, Queen of Scots.

George had four brothers and four sister, who are listed in his father's article.

George's father had been a Protestant, but his mother, Marion Boyd, was a recusant, who brought him, like all his siblings, up in the Catholic faith. His uncle George Hamilton of Greenlaw and Roscrea pushed in the same direction.

Early life

George was about 11 years old in 1618 when his father, the 1st Earl of Abercorn, died. His father had been an undertaker in James VI and I's 1611 Plantation of Ulster and had as such acquired large estates in Ireland, mainly around Strabane in County Tyrone. George's eldest brother, James, succeeded to his father's title of Earl of Abercorn, but the Irish lands were shared among the younger sons according to his father's will. Strabane, the most prestigious part, went to George's elder brother Claud. George inherited Donalong, a great proportion (2000 acres). His father had predeceased his paternal grandfather, the 1st Lord Paisley, who died three years later in 1621. George's eldest brother James, the 2nd Earl of Abercorn, inherited at that time the title of Lord Paisley and the family's Scottish lands.

Some time after 1625 Hamilton acquired rights, together with Sir Basil Brooke and Sir George Russell, to the Knockaunderrig Silver Mine at Knockanroe in the Silvermine Mountains at the village of Silvermines, south of Nenagh.

In 1627 Hamilton succeeded Sir Roger Hope to the command of a company of foot in the Irish Army.

Marriage and children

In 1629 Hamilton married Mary Butler, youngest daughter of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles. Her eldest brother, James, later the 1st Duke of Ormond, thereby became his brother-in-law.

George and Mary had six sons:
#James (died 1673), became ranger of Hyde Park and lost a leg in a sea-fight;
#George (died 1676), killed in French service at the Col de Saverne.
#Anthony (1646–1720), fought for the Jacobites and wrote the ''Mémoires du comte de Grammont'';
#Thomas (died 1687), served in the Royal Navy and died in Boston, Massachusetts;
#Richard (died 1717), fought for the Jacobites and was taken prisoner at the Boyne.
#John (died 1691), Colonel in the Irish army, was killed in the Battle of Aughrim;

—and three daughters:
#Elizabeth (1641–1708), a famous beauty, married Philibert de Gramont;
#Lucia (died 1676), married Sir Donough O'Brien, 1st Baronet, of Leamaneh Castle, a Protestant, in 1674.
#Margaret, married in July 1674 Mathew Forde of Seaforde