James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn

{{Infobox noble

| honorific_prefix = His Grace

| name = The Duke of Abercorn

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|KG|CB|PCi}}

| image = James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn.jpg

| caption = James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn, {{circa}} 1913

| noble family = Hamilton

| father = James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn

| mother = Lady Louisa Jane Russell

| spouse = {{marriage|Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe|1869}}

| issue = {{Plainlist|

James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn
Lady Alexandra Phyllis Hamilton
Lady Gladys Mary Hamilton
Lord Arthur John Hamilton
Lord Claud Nigel Hamilton

}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1838|8|24|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Brighton, Sussex

| death_date = {{death date and age|1913|6|3|1838|8|24|df=yes}}

| death_place = Mayfair, London

}}

File:2 Duke of Abercorn.png, 1881]]

James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn (24 August 1838 – 3 June 1913),{{EB1922 |wstitle= Abercorn, James Hamilton |volume = 30 |last= |first= |page = 1 |short= 1}} styled Viscount Hamilton until 1868 and Marquess of Hamilton from 1868 to 1885, was a British nobleman, courtier, and diplomat. He was the son of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, and Lady Louisa Jane Russell.

Biography

Lord Hamilton was born in 1838 at Brighton,{{cite news |title=Births. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000447/18380906/023/0003 |access-date=25 September 2024 |work=Fife Herald |date=6 September 1838 |page=3}} the eldest son of James Hamilton, second marquess and later first duke of Abercorn (1811–1885), and his wife Lady Louisa Jane Russell (1812–1905), second daughter of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.{{Cite ODNB|title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|date=2004-09-23|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33669|pages=ref:odnb/33669|editor-last=Matthew|editor-first=H. C. G.|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/33669|access-date=2019-12-01|editor2-last=Harrison|editor2-first=B.}} He was educated, like his father, at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford,{{sfn|Cokayne|1910|pages=9-10}} where he matriculated on 28 May 1857. After graduating from Oxford with a BA in 1860,{{alox2|title=Hamilton, James, Viscount}} he entered Parliament as Conservative MP for County Donegal, a constituency he represented from 1860 to 1880. He took over from his father as Honorary Colonel of the Prince of Wales's Own Donegal Militia on 22 September 1860, and retained the position until 1891 when his brother Lord Claud Hamilton (who had been commandant of the regiment) took over.Army List, various dates. After serving as High Sheriff of Tyrone for 1863, Viscount Hamilton re-entered university and emerged with an M.A. in 1865 (he was created a Companion of the Order of the Bath the same year). That year, he also embarked upon a diplomatic mission to Denmark. He served as a Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales from 1866 to 1885; in the latter year, he took over his father's position of Lord Lieutenant of County Donegal, and inherited his father's peerage titles. He led the Lords' reply to the Speech from the throne wearing the uniform of Lord Lieutenant of Donegal on 21 January 1886.{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1886/jan/21/address-in-answer-to-her-majestys-most|date=21 January 1886|title=ADDRESS IN ANSWER TO HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH. |website=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)}} He was chosen Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1886, a post he held until his death.{{cite book | last = Waite | first = Arthur Edward | publisher = Cosimo, Inc. | title = A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry | volume = I | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60206-641-0 | pages = 400 }} In 1887 he was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland.

Abercorn held several positions after acceding to that title, including Groom of the Stole to the Prince of Wales (1886–1891), and chairman of the British South Africa Company. In early 1901 he was appointed by King Edward to lead a special diplomatic mission to announce the King's accession to the governments of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Russia, Germany and Saxony.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The King – the special Embassies |date=23 March 1901 |page=12 |issue=36410}}

He was created a Knight of the Garter. He died of pneumonia at his house at 61 Green Street, Mayfair, at the age of 74. He is buried in the cemetery at Baronscourt Parish Church, the traditional burial place of the Dukes of Abercorn and their families.{{Cite web|url=http://fredrickhervey4thearlofbristol.blogspot.com/2012/08/baronscourt-parish-church.html|title=The Earl-Bishop: Baronscourt Parish Church|first=The Earl|last=Bishop|date=30 August 2012}}

In 1883, he held 76,500 acres in Tyrone and Donegal. He also held 2,100 acres in Scotland.{{sfn|Cokayne|1910|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo01coka/page/7 7, line 22|ps=: "On 15 Oct. 1790, he was cr. MARQUESS OF ABERCORN ..."]}}

Family and children

In 1869 he married Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe (1848–1929), daughter of Anne Gore (bef. 1832–1877), daughter of Adm. Sir John Gore (died 1836), and Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (1796–1870). Together they had two daughters and seven sons:

James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn (1869–1953)
Lord Claud Penn Alexander Hamilton (18 October 1871 – 18 October 1871) (same day)
Lord Charlie Hamilton (10 April 1874 – 10 April 1874) (same day)
Lady Alexandra Phyllis Hamilton (1876–1918), who had Alexandra, Princess of Wales as sponsor at her baptism. She died when the RMS Leinster was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank. She was unmarried.
Lord Claud Francis Hamilton (25 October 1878 – 25 December 1878) (aged 2 months)
Lady Gladys Mary Hamilton (1880–1917), who in 1902 married Ralph Francis Forward-Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow (1877–1946). She was his first wife, and together they had one son.
Lord Arthur John Hamilton (1883–1914), who was Deputy Master of the Household from 1913, Captain in the Irish Guards and was killed in action at the First Battle of Ypres.
Stillborn son (31 October 1886){{cite news |title=Births. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18861104/002/0001 |access-date=25 September 2024 |work=London Evening Standard |date=4 November 1886 |page=1}}
Lord Claud Nigel Hamilton (1889–1975), Captain in the Grenadier Guards, fought in the First World War and served in the household of King George V, his widow and Queen Elizabeth II as Deputy Master of the Household, as Extra Equerry, as Equerry in Ordinary and as Comptroller, Treasurer. In 1933, he married Violet Ruby Ashton. They had no children.

Honours and arms

;British{{sfn|Cokayne|1910|pages=9-10}}

CB: Companion of the Bath (civil division), 1865
KG: Knight of the Garter, 10 August 1892Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092537418#page/n157/mode/2up p. 69]

;Foreign{{cite book|editor=Sir James Balfour Paul|year=1904|title=The Scots Peerage|chapter=Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/scotspeeragefoun01paul#page/72/mode/2up|volume=1|location=Edinburgh|publisher=David Douglas|pages=72–73|access-date=7 February 2021}}

{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}:
Commander of the Imperial Order of Leopold, 1881{{citation|chapter=Ritter-Orden: Österreichisch-kaiserlicher Leopold-orden|chapter-url=https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1913&size=45&page=406|title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie|date=1913|access-date=9 February 2021|page=64}}
Order of the Iron Crown
{{flag|Denmark}}: S.K.: Grand Cross of the Dannebrog, 10 March 1888{{cite book |year=1889 |orig-year=1st pub.:1801 |editor1-last=Bille-Hansen |editor1-first=A. C. |editor2-last=Holck |editor2-first=Harald |title=Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1889 |trans-title=State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1889 |url=https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/908078.pdf#page=39 |format=PDF |series=Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender |language=da |location=Copenhagen |publisher=J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri |pages=13–14 |access-date=7 February 2021 |via=:da:DIS Danmark}}
{{flag|Russian Empire}}: Order of St. Anna

Ancestry

{{ahnentafel

|collapsed=yes |align=center

|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;

|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;

|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;

|1= 1. James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn

|2= 2. James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn

|3= 3. Lady Louisa Jane Russell

|4= 4. James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton

|5= 5. Harriet Douglas

|6= 6. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford

|7= 7. Lady Georgina Gordon

|8= 8. John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn

|9= 9. Catherine Copley

|10= 10. John Douglas

|11= 11. Lady Frances Lascelles

|12= 12. Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock

|13= 13. Lady Elizabeth Keppel

|14= 14. Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon

|15= 15. Jane Maxwell

}}

Notes

References

{{cite book | last=Cokayne | first=George E. | authorlink=George Cokayne |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=Vicary |editor-link=Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) | title=The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant | volume=I, Ab-Adam to Basing | publisher=St. Catherine Press | location=London | year=1910 | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015066332571 }}