Charles Hamilton, 8th Earl of Haddington DL (5 July 1753 – 17 March 1828) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

nobleman.

Life

Haddington was the eldest son of Thomas Hamilton, 7th Earl of Haddington and Mary Lloyd. Following his accession to the Earldom of Haddington, he was elected a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

from 1807 to 1812. He held the office of Lord Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire from 1804 to 1823. As the hereditary keeper of

Holyrood Park Holyrood Park (also called the King's Park or Queen's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, lo ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Haddington caused some controversy by refusing to allow member of the Aesculapian Club to extend paths and plant areas of the park. He caused further controversy, when he opened the Camstane Quarry on

Salisbury Crags Holyrood Park (also called the King's Park or Queen's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, lo ...

to provide paving stones for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The public outcry led the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

to strip his son, Thomas Hamilton, the 9th Earl, of his hereditary rights as Keeper of the King's Park in 1831. However Thomas was paid £40,000 (equivalent to £4.5 million in 2022) in compensation for the loss of this role.Cassells Old and New Edinburgh vol.2 Ch.31 Lord Haddington died 17 March 1828.

Marriage and issue

Lord Haddington married on 30 April 1779 to Lady Sophia Hope (d.1813), daughter of John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun and had issue: * Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington

References

Sources

John Anderson (genealogist, 1789–1832), Anderson, J., ''Historical and genealogical memoirs of the House of Hamilton; with genealogical memoirs of the several branches of the family'', Edinburgh 1825.

James Balfour Paul, Balfour Paul, Sir J., ''Scots Peerage'' IX vols. Edinburgh 1904. 1753 births 1828 deaths Nobility from East Lothian 8 Lord-lieutenants of East Lothian Scottish representative peers {{Scotland-earl-stub