James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Abercorn

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James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Abercorn (c. Template:Trim – c. 1670Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".) was a Catholic Scottish nobleman. He, his wife, his mother, and most of his family were persecuted by the kirk as recusants. Implementing his father's will, he gave his Irish title of Baron Hamilton of Strabane to his younger brother Claud. His younger brothers inherited his father's Irish lands, while he received the Scottish ones, which he squandered away, being deep in debt in his later days.

Birth and origins

Family tree
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James was born about 1604,Template:SfnTemplate:Efn probably in Paisley, Scotland. He was the eldest son of James Hamilton and his wife Marion Boyd.Template:Sfn His father was an undertaker in the plantation of UlsterTemplate:Sfn and would be created 1st Earl of Abercorn by James VI and I in 1606. His paternal grandfather was Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord of Paisley.

James's mother was the eldest daughter of Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock in Scotland.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Boyds were an old Scottish family, which would in 1661 be granted the title of Earl of Kilmarnock.Template:Sfn He had four brothers and four sisters,Template:Sfn which are listed in his father's article.

His father had been a Protestant, but his mother, Marion Boyd, was a recusant, who brought him, like all his siblings, up as a Catholic. On 10 April 1606 his father was created Earl of Abercorn and Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick.Template:Sfn

Baron Hamilton of Strabane

On 8 May 1617, when he was only about 12 years old, he was created 1st Baron Hamilton of Strabane, in the peerage of Ireland, with remainder to the heirs male of the body of his father.[1] The purpose of the creation was to give the Abercorns, who were Scottish earls but big landowners in Ireland, a seat in the Irish House of Lords. The title Baron Hamilton of Strabane refers to the town of Strabane in County Tyrone, Ulster, where his father, the 1st Earl of Abercorn, had built a castle during the Plantation of Ulster.Template:Sfn

Earl of Abercorn

In 1618 Lord Strabane, as he was now, succeeded his father as the 2nd Earl of Abercorn. His father had predeceased (d.v.p.) his grandfather, Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley, and had thus never become Lord Paisley.Template:Sfn

In 1621 his grandfather, Lord Paisley, died.Template:Sfn He succeeded therefore his grandfather as Lord Paisley and inherited the Scottish estates of the family, notably Abercorn and Paisley, as well as Kilpatrick on the northern bank of the Clyde. Since his father had entailed his Irish lands on his younger brothers, he resigned the title of Baron Hamilton of Strabane on 11 November 1633. Charles I, King of England and Scotland then regranted it to his brother Claud.Template:Sfn

Grand tour

Sometime in early 1620, Lord Abercorn, as he was now, went to the continent on "his travels" as the Grand Tour was called in his time. He spent several years travelling the continent and visited Catholic countries, France and Italy, which encouraged him in his Catholicism. He returned to Paisley in April 1627.Template:Sfn

Marriage and children

In 1627 he married Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Lennox.Template:EfnTemplate:Efn He was 22, she was about 34, more than ten years older. She had been married to Lord Esmé Stewart and had had 11 children from him. Her first husband had died in 1624, being the 3rd Duke of Lennox. In November 1632 she obtained a royal license permitting her to retain her precedence as a dowager duchess.Template:Sfn

Script error: No such module "anchor". James and Katherine had three sons, but the first two predeceased their father:

  1. James (c. 1635 – before 1670), held the courtesy title of Lord Paisley as heir apparent but predeceased his father without producing a male heirTemplate:Sfn
  2. William (died before 1670), became a colonel but predeceased his father unmarried in the German warsTemplate:Sfn
  3. George (c. 1636 – before 1683), succeeded his father as the 3rd Earl of AbercornTemplate:Sfn

Persecution by the Kirk

Abercorn's problems with the Church of Scotland (the Kirk) began with the process engaged by the Paisley Presbytery against his mother and some of her servants. In June 1626 she fled to James Law, the Archbishop of Glasgow for protection. The Bishop obtained a letter from the King, written by William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling that directed the church not to trouble her as long as she kept quiet.Template:Sfn However, in April 1627 Abercorn returned from his travels on the continent and provoked the church by declaring himself openly a Catholic.Template:Sfn On 20 January 1628 his mother, the Dowager Countess, was excommunicated by the Paisley Synod of the Church of Scotland.Template:Sfn He escaped excommunication only by being absent at the royal court in London.Template:Sfn His wife similarly was excommunicated on 3 February.Template:Sfn

On 26 August 1632 his mother died in Edinburgh.Template:Sfn On 21 August 1637 his wife died at Paisley and was buried "without ceremony" on 17 September.Template:Sfn Like his mother she was a recusant. As Catholic, she was buried without religious ceremony. Her title as Baroness Clifton passed to James, her eldest son from her first marriage. At that time his father was deep in debt owing more than 400,000 merks (about £20,000 Sterling) to his creditors.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

In 1649 Abercorn himself was excommunicated by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and ordered to leave Scotland.Template:Sfn

Heir male of Hamilton

On 11 September 1651, the male line of the dukes of Hamilton failed when William Hamilton, the 2nd Duke died from wounds received at the Battle of Worcester fighting for Charles II against Cromwell. As the Duke had no sons, he was succeeded by his niece Anne Hamilton according to the succession rule of his title (see family tree). It was found however that Abercorn was the heir male, which was thought of no consequence at the time.Template:Sfn This status of the Abercorns being heir male later led to a dispute between the houses of Abercorn and Hamilton over the title of Duke of Châtellerault, when this title, which had belonged to James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, was revived by Napoleon III of France in 1864 in favour of the Duke of Hamilton.Template:Sfn

Sale of Paisley

On 22 June 1652 Abercorn sold Paisley to the Earl of Angus for £13,333 6s 8d Scots (about £1100 Sterling).Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Angus sold it a year later for £160,000Template:Sfn to Lord Cochrane,Template:Sfn who would later become the 1st Earl of DunDonald. The 8th Earl of Abercorn would eventually buy Paisley back in 1764.Template:Sfn

Death, succession, and timeline

Lord Abercorn died about 1670Template:Sfn and was succeeded by his son George as the 3rd Earl of Abercorn. George, however, died unmarried in Padua. The earldom passed to the descendants of Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane.[2]

Timeline
As his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages.
Age Date Event
0 1604, about Born, probably at Paisley.Template:Efn
Script error: No such module "age". 1606, 10 Apr Father created Earl of Abercorn.[3]
Script error: No such module "age". 1610, Apr Father chosen as an undertaker in James's Plantation of Ulster.[4]
Script error: No such module "age". 1617, 8 May Created Baron Hamilton of Strabane.[1]
Script error: No such module "age". 1618, 23 Mar Father died in Monkton, Ayrshire, Scotland.[5]
Script error: No such module "age". 1621 Grandfather died.[6]
Script error: No such module "age". 1625, 27 Mar Accession of King Charles I, succeeding King James ITemplate:Sfn
Script error: No such module "age". 1627, Apr Returned from his travels.[7]
Script error: No such module "age". 1627 Married Katherine Clifton.[8]
Script error: No such module "age". 1628, 20 Jan Mother, the Dowager Countess, excommunicated in Paisley Abbey Church.[9]
Script error: No such module "age". 1628, 3 Feb Wife, the Countess, excommunicated in Paisley Abbey Church.[10]
Script error: No such module "age". 1632, 26 Aug Mother died in Edinburgh.[11]
Script error: No such module "age". 1633, 11 Nov Resigned his Irish Peerage in favour of his younger brother Claud.[12]
Script error: No such module "age". 1637, 21 Aug Wife died at Paisley.[13]
Script error: No such module "age". 1649, 30 Jan King Charles I beheaded.Template:Sfn
Script error: No such module "age". 1649 Excommunicated and ordered to leave Scotland.[14]
Script error: No such module "age". 1651, 11 Sep Became heir male of the Hamiltons.[15]
Script error: No such module "age". 1652, 22 Jun Sold Paisley.[16]
Script error: No such module "age". 1660, 29 May Restoration of King Charles IITemplate:Sfn
Script error: No such module "age". 1670, about Died[17]

Notes and references

Notes

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Citations

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  3. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  4. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  5. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  6. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  7. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  8. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  9. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  10. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  11. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  12. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  13. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  14. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  15. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  16. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  17. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".

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Sources

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  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – Ab-Adam to Basing (for Abercorn)
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – (for timeline)
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – 1610 to 1613
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – (Preview)
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – Abercorn to Balmerino (for Abercorn)
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – Innermeath to Mar (for Boyd of Kilmallock)
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – Panmure to Sinclair (for Sempill)
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Earl of Abercorn
1618 – c. 1670 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Lord Paisley
1621 – c. 1670 Template:S-ttl/check
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Baron Hamilton of Strabane
1617–1633 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by

Template:Authority control

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