James George Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Duke of Brandon,
KT (10 July 1724 – 17 January 1758) was a
Scottish peer.
Early years and education
Hamilton was the son of the
5th Duke of Hamilton, by his first wife, the former Lady Anne Cochrane, and was styled as Marquess of Clydesdale from his birth until his father's death. He was educated at
Winchester College
Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
from 1734 to 1740. He matriculated at
St Mary Hall, Oxford on 23 February 1741, knighted into the
Order of the Thistle in or around 1742, and created a
DCL on 14 April 1743.
On 14 February (
St. Valentine's Day) 1752, Hamilton met the society beauty
Elizabeth Gunning at
Bedford House in
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 ...
. According to
Horace Walpole, the duke wished to marry her that night and he called for a local
parson to perform the ceremony. However, without a licence, calling of
banns and a ring, the parson refused and they were eventually married that night in
Mayfair Chapel (which did not require a licence) in a clandestine marriage, with a ring from a bed curtain. The couple had three children:
*
Lady Elizabeth Hamilton (26 January 1753 – 14 March 1797), married
Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby
*
James Hamilton, 7th Duke of Hamilton (18 February 1755 – 7 July 1769)
*
Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton (24 July 1756 – 2 August 1799)
On 2 March 1743, he succeeded to his father's title of
Duke of Hamilton
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...
.
Death
He died on 17 January 1758, aged 33, at
Great Tew,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
from a cold caught whilst out hunting. He was buried in February 1758 at the family mausoleum at
Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Hamilton (; ) 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 north of Carlisle. It is situated on t ...
.
Holyrood Palace and Abbey
The Duke was hereditary keeper of the
Palace of Holyroodhouse in
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 ...
, but all but his apartments in the building had been reduced to a state of dereliction by the time of his death. He was responsible for commissioning the reroofing of
Holyrood Abbey with stone slabs. The excessive weight of the new roof caused it to collapse in 1768, taking more of the building with it.
[Freeman, F.W. (1984), ''Robert Fergusson and the Scots Humanist Compromise'', Edinburgh University Press, pp. 205 & 206, ]
Freemasonry
The 6th Duke of Hamilton held the position of
Right Worshipful Master of the local
Masonic LodgeHamilton Kilwinning No.7for three consecutive years from 1753 to 1755.
Ancestry
References
External links
Lodge Hamilton Kilwinning No. 7
1724 births
1758 deaths
Nobility from South Lanarkshire
People educated at Winchester College
Alumni of St Mary Hall, Oxford
106
103
James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton
Knights of the Thistle
James
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