Susan Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton (14 May 1786 – 27 May 1859), formerly Susan(na) Euphemia Beckford, was the wife of

Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, 7th Duke of Brandon KG PC FRS FSA (3 October 1767 – 18 August 1852) was a Scottish politician and art collector. Life Born on 3 October 1767 at St. James's Square, London, a son of Archibald H ...

, and the mother of the 11th Duke. Susan was born at Château La Tour, Vevay, in Switzerland. She was the daughter of

William Thomas Beckford William Thomas Beckford (29 September 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist, art collector, patron of decorative art, critic, travel writer, plantation owner and for some time politician. He was reputed at one stage to be England's riches ...

and his wife, the former Lady Margaret Gordon. Beckford was an art collector who made his home at

Brodick Castle Brodick Castle is a castle situated outside the port of Brodick on the Isle of Arran, an island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It was previously a seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The castle ...

on the Isle of Arran. He was the son of a Lord Mayor of London, William Beckford (whose wife, Maria Hamilton, was a descendant of

James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Châtellerault, 2nd Earl of Arran ( 1519 – 22 January 1575), was a Scottish nobleman and head of the House of Hamilton. A great-grandson of King James II of Scotland, he was heir presumptive to the Scottish thron ...

, as was her future grandson-in-law). Lady Margaret was the daughter of

Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne (c. 1726 – 28 December 1794). The eldest son of John Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aboyne and Grace Lockhart, he succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Aboyne on 7 April 1732. On his death in 1794 he was succeeded in his t ...

. Susan Beckford married the future duke, then a former MP and styled Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale,G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume VI, page 273. on 26 April 1810 in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. They had two children: *

William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, who married Princess Marie Amelie of Baden and had children; *

Lady Susan Hamilton Lady Susan Harriet Catherine Opdebeck (; 9 June 181428 November 1889) was a Scottish aristocrat. The daughter of Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, and Susan Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton, Susan Euphemia Beckford, she at once was a star ...

, who married twice: she had children by her first husband,

Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, (22 May 181118 October 1864), styled Earl of Lincoln before 1851, was a British politician. Background Newcastle was the son of Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcast ...

, but none by her second, Jean Alexis Op de Beeck. Her daughter, also named Susan, caused the duke and duchess some concern by eloping with Horatio Walpole, by whom she had an illegitimate child, born in 1849. She lived abroad with Walpole for a time but returned to Britain for a time in 1853. The dowager duchess was a patron of the arts whose acquaintances included

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

. She inherited many of her father's works of art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Susan Hamilton, Duchess of 1786 births 1859 deaths 18th-century British women 19th-century British women Susan British duchesses by marriage British patrons of the arts Peerage of Scotland Susan 19th-century British philanthropists