Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton, 5th Duke of Brandon and 2nd Baron Hamilton of Hameldon, (24 July 1756 – 2 August 1799) was a Scottish peer, nobleman, and politician.

Life

Hamilton was born at the

Palace of Holyroodhouse The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh ...

, the son of the 6th Duke of Hamilton and his wife, Elizabeth Gunning. He attended

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from 1763 to 1767 and on the death of his brother in 1769, he succeeded to the title of Duke of Hamilton. He also inherited his mother's title of Baron Hamilton of Hameldon when she died in 1790. Between 1772 and 1776, he lived in

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with Dr. John Moore and his son, the future Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Moore, hero of Corunna. On his return, aged 21, he married the beautiful Elizabeth Anne Burrell (b. 20 April 1757), fourth daughter of Peter Burrell, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 5 April 1778. The new Duchess was a sister of the future 1st Baron Gwydyr, the Countess of Beverley, and the future Duchess of Northumberland. Hamilton's mother disapproved of the match, possibly because she had hoped for a better match for her handsome son. The Duchess of Argyll was of the opinion that "the daughter of a private gentleman, however accomplished, was not qualified to be allied to her" even though she herself had been a mere Miss Gunning and Irish at that.

Marriage breakdown

The Duke gradually sank into dissipation. In 1794, the couple eventually divorced, by

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after 16 years of marriage. The Duchess initiated the divorce on the grounds of his adultery with actress Mrs. Esten since 1793, but also previous adultery with an unnamed lady (Frances Twysden, wife of the Earl of Eglinton and sister of the Countess of Jersey) since 1787. Lord Eglinton had divorced his wife 6 February 1788 on grounds of her adultery with the Duke, after she had borne a child, possibly Lady Susannah Montgomerie (1788–1805) supposed to be the Duke's. Thus, the Duchess could have used the Eglinton divorce to support her own case. However, she did not, and used a later dalliance with a virtually unknown actress. The 1794 divorce is a curious one, and apparently one agreed on beforehand, according to Lawrence Stone in his book ''Alienated Affections: Divorce and Separation in Scotland 1684–1830''. The Duke did not defend, and the Duchess obtained her divorce since she had left her husband a year earlier. The Duke died without remarrying, even though he and

Harriet Pye Esten Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress and briefly a theatre manager. Life Esten was born in Tooting in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper Anna Maria ...

had a daughter in 1796, Anne (1796–20 August 1844), who went on to marry

Henry Westenra, 3rd Baron Rossmore Henry Robert Westenra, 3rd Baron Rossmore (24 August 1792 – 1 December 1860), was an Anglo-Irish Member of Parliament and peer, from 1843 to 1852 Lord Lieutenant of Monaghan. Life The eldest son of Warner Westenra, 2nd Baron Rossmore (1765� ...

. The Duchess remarried one year after his death, to the 1st Marquess of Exeter (d. 1804) as his third wife. She had no children, and died on 17 January 1837. Hamilton died in 1799, aged 43 at

Hamilton Palace Hamilton Palace was a country house in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The former seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, it dated from the 14th century and was subsequently much enlarged in the 17th and 19th centuries.Hamilton, Scotland Hamilton ( sco, Hamiltoun; gd, Baile Hamaltan ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and nor ...

. Without legitimate issue, his ducal title passed to his uncle,

Archibald Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop of ...

and his barony passed to his half-brother,

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. The Duke however left the contents of Hamilton Palace to his illegitimate daughter by Mrs. Esten, Anne Douglas-Hamilton, later Lady Rossmore (died without issue). The new Duke was forced to buy them back. The Duke is also noted for being an early patron of the future Sir John Moore, hero of Corruna, whose parliamentary and military career was sponsored by the Hamiltons from 1779. The dance "Hamilton House" is also said to be named for the 8th Duke and his Duchess, with the changes of partner echoing the infidelities of both.Portrait of Douglas, 8th Duke of Hamilton (1756 -1799), painted c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)
/ref> Finally, the Duke was the first Duke of Hamilton to be seated in Parliament as Duke of Brandon (a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that entitled him to a seat in the House of Lords, not as a Scottish representative peer).

References

External links

*Andrew Steptoe
John Moore: eighteenth century physician, bearleader and social observer
Retrieved 29 November 2012. * Horace Bleackley
''The Story of a Beautiful Duchess: Being an Account of the Life And Times of Elizabeth Gunning''
pp. 298–299. Available via Google Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Douglas Hamilton, 08th Duke Of 1756 births 1799 deaths

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05 Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 08th Duke of Hamilton Knights of the Thistle Lord-Lieutenants of Lanarkshire People educated at Eton College

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