Henry Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil (c.1647 – 12 January 1675) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

peer. His family alleged that he was

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...

by his wife, Lady Alice Moore (Lady Clanbrassil), so that she could inherit his estate.

Biography

Lord Clanbrassil was the son of

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil Privy Council of Ireland, PC(I) (14 August 1694 – 17 March 1758) was a British politician and peer. Hamilton was the son of James Hamilton and Hon. Anne Mordaunt, the daughter of John Mordaunt, 1st Visco ...

and Lady Anne Carey. On 20 June 1659 he succeeded to his father's titles. He was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, graduating on 28 September 1663 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

. In 1666 he rebuilt the

family seat A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...

of Killyleagh Castle, erecting the north tower and building a long fortified

bawn A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word ''bábhún'' (sometimes spelt ''badhún''), possibly meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure".See alternative traditional s ...

in the front of the castle. Following a petition from Clanbrassil to

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

for funds to help the restoration work, the King granted permission for the royal coat of arms to be placed above the door of the rebuilt castle. In 1669 Clanbrassil was indicted for being present at the alleged rape of Sarah Maverill, but he was acquitted in August 1670. In February 1671 he was appointed to the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

having assumed his seat in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

Marriage

In May 1667 Clanbrassil married Lady Alice Moore, daughter of

Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

and Hon. Alice Spencer, daughter of William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton. The marriage was contrary to the expectations of Clanbrassil's family. The couple lived an extravagant life between Killyleagh and

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Their only child, James (born and died 1670) died in infancy and Clanbrassil's titles became extinct upon his death in 1675.

Death

In March 1674, Lady Clanbrassil is alleged to have convinced her husband to make a new will to ensure that Killyleagh passed to her, and not his cousins, upon his death. This ran contrary to the

entail In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust, established by deed or settlement, that restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents that property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise ali ...

in the first earl's will and Clanbrassil's mother warned her son against signing a new will, writing to him that he would die within three months if he did so. In January the following year, Clanbrassil died of suspected poisoning while in Dublin with Lady Clanbrassil. The evidence that Lady Clanbrassil carried out the poisoning is circumstantial and inconclusive. However, she had the body disembowelled and quickly buried in

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...

, rather than in the family plot in

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

. Lady Clanbrassil also had the new will, which she brought with her to Dublin, quickly proved by solicitors in the city without informing her dead husband's family. Legal action was subsequently mounted by Clanbrassil's cousins against Lady Clanbrassil in an attempt to restore the original will and recover the estate; the matter was settled in February 1679.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clanbrassil, Henry Hamilton, 2nd Earl of 1640s births 1675 deaths 17th-century Anglo-Irish people Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Deaths by poisoning Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Privy Council of Ireland People murdered in Ireland