James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Order of the Thistle
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order...
(10 July 1724 – 17 January 1758) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
peer
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
.
Early years and Education
Hamilton was the son of the 5th Duke of Hamilton and was styled as Marquess of Clydesdale from his birth until his father's death. He was educated at Winchester CollegeWinchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
from 1734 to 1740 and graduated from St Mary Hall, Oxford
St Mary Hall, Oxford
St Mary Hall was an academic hall of the University of Oxford associated with Oriel College since 1326, but which functioned independently from 1545 to 1902.- History :...
on 14 April 1743.
On 14 February (St. Valentine's Day) 1752, Hamilton met the society beauty Elizabeth Gunning
Elizabeth Campbell, 1st Baroness Hamilton
Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll & 1st Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon was a celebrated Irish belle and society hostess.- Early life :...
at Bedford House in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. According to Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, the duke wished to marry her that night and he called for a local parson
Parson
In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...
to perform the ceremony. However, without a license, calling of banns
Banns of marriage
The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" are the public announcement in a Christian parish church of an impending marriage between two specified persons...
and a ring, the parson refused and they were eventually married that night in Mayfair Chapel (which did not require a license) in a clandestine marriage, with a ring from a bedcurtain. The couple had three children:
- Lady Elizabeth Douglas-Hamilton (26 January 1753 – 14 March 1797), married Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of DerbyEdward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of DerbyEdward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby PC , styled Lord Strange between 1771 and 1776, was a British peer and politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries...
- James Douglas-Hamilton, 7th Duke of Hamilton (18 February 1755 – 7 July 1769)
- Douglas 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
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that Peerage , and as such its holder is the Premier Peer of Scotland, as well as being head of both the House of Hamilton and the House of Douglas...
.
Death
He died on 17 January 1758, aged 33, at Great TewGreat Tew
Great Tew is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England, about northeast of Chipping Norton and southwest of Banbury.-Archaeology:...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
from a cold caught whilst out hunting. He was buried in February 1758 at the family mausoleum at Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Hamilton is a town in South Lanarkshire, in the west-central Lowlands of Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It is the fifth-biggest town in Scotland after Paisley, East Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld...
.
The Duke of Hamilton was a member of the local Masonic
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
(Hamilton Kilwinning No.7) and in fact presided as Master of that lodge for three consecutive years from 1753 to 1755.