William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton

Hamilton was the son of Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton and Susan Euphemia Beckford, daughter of English novelist William Beckford. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He was Knight Marischal of Scotland from 1846 and Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire from 1852 until his death.{{cite book |last=Doyle |first=J.E. |title=Abercon-Fortescue |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company |series=The Official Baronage of England: Showing the Succession, Dignities, and Offices of Every Peer from 1066 to 1885, with Sixteen Hundred Illustrations |year=1886 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jeg_Nc1hRfoC |language=es |access-date=30 April 2019 |page=217}}

At the Mannheim Palace, on 23 February 1843, he married Princess Marie Amelie of Baden, daughter of the Grand Duke Charles of Baden and Stéphanie de Beauharnais, the adopted daughter of Napoleon I. After his marriage, he lived chiefly in Paris and Baden, taking very little interest in British affairs. They had three surviving children:

• Unnamed son (stillborn 7 February 1844), at Holyrood Palace{{cite news |title=Births. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000363/18440217/031/0003 |access-date=6 October 2024 |work=Carlisle Journal |date=17 February 1844 |page=3}}
• William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton (1845–1895), also succeeded as 8th Earl of Selkirk in 1886
• Lt. Lord Charles George Douglas-Hamilton (1847–1886), 11th Hussars, succeeded by special remainder as 7th Earl of Selkirk in 1885, died unmarried
• Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton (1850–1922), married firstly Albert I, Prince of Monaco, latterly to Prince Tassilo Festetics de Tolna

Though he had married in 1843, the duke did not succeed to his title until 1852. In that year, he purchased the house located at 22 Arlington Street in St. James's, a district of the City of Westminster in central London from Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort for £60,000 ({{Inflation|UK|60000|1852|r=-3|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}). The duke lavished expenses on the house for approximately a decade, including installing iron firebacks with his coronet and motto. Upon his death, the house passed to his widow who sold it to Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne via auction in 1867.{{cite book |last1=Chancellor |first1=E. Beresford |title=The Private Palaces of London Past and Present |date=1908 |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co Ltd. |location=London |pages=366–367 |url=https://archive.org/stream/privatepalacesof00chan#page/366/mode/2up |accessdate=30 June 2015}}

He was a close friend of the French Empress Eugenie. According to Lady Helena Gleichen, they accidentally caused a scandal at the French Court when courtiers were told that Lord Hamilton would not be joining them for the hunt because of an injury and the Empress said: "Yes, I saw the bruise on his leg. It is very bad." This shocked the French court and later, the Empress had Lord Hamilton come down to show everyone that Scottish lords wore kilts, and thus, their legs were visible to everyone.{{Cite book |last=Gleichen |first=Lady Helena |title=Contacts and Contrasts |publisher=Butler & Tanner Ltd. |year=1940 |pages=72}}

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| 1= 1. William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton

| 2= 2. Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton

| 3= 3. Susan Beckford

| 4= 4. Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton

| 5= 5. Lady Harriet Stewart

| 6= 6. William Beckford

| 7= 7. Lady Margaret Gordon

| 8= 8. James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton

| 9= 9. Anne Spencer

| 10= 10. Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway

| 11= 11. Lady Catherine Cochrane

| 12= 12. William Beckford

| 13= 13. Maria Hamilton

| 14= 14. Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne

| 15= 15. Lady Margaret Stewart

| 16= 16. James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton

| 17= 17. Hon. Elizabeth Gerard

| 18= 18. Edward Spencer

| 19= 19. Anne Baker

| 20= 20. James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway

| 21= 21. Lady Catherine Montgomerie

| 22= 22. John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald

| 23= 23. Lady Anne Murray

| 24= 24. Peter Beckford

| 25= 25. Bathshua Herring

| 26= 26. Hon. George Hamilton

| 27= 27. Bridget Coward

| 28= 28. John Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aboyne

| 29= 29. Grace Lockhart

| 30= 30. Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway (= 10)

| 31= 31. Lady Catherine Cochrane (= 11)

}}

• {{cite DNB |wstitle=Douglas, William Alexander Anthony Archibald}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Hansard-contribs | mr-william-hamilton-1 | the Duke of Hamilton }}
• William, 11th Duke of Hamilton: [http://hamilton.rcahms.gov.uk/family13.html Hamilton Palace]

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Category:1811 births

Category:1863 deaths

Category:Nobility from South Lanarkshire

Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford

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William Douglas-Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton

Category:Lord-lieutenants of Lanarkshire

Category:People educated at Eton College

William