James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn

The Duke of Abercorn
James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn, circa 1913
Spouse(s)	Mary Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn
Issue James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn Lady Alexandra Phyllis Hamilton Lady Gladys Mary Hamilton Lord Arthur John Hamilton Lord Claud Nigel Hamilton
Noble family	Hamilton
Father	James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn
Mother	Louisa Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn
Born	(1838-08-24)24 August 1838
Died	3 January 1913(1913-01-03) (aged 74)

The duke as Marquess of Hamilton by Leslie Ward, 1881

James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn KG CB PC (24 August 1838 – 3 January 1913), styled Viscount Hamilton until 1868 and Marquess of Hamilton from 1868 to 1885, was a British nobleman and diplomat. He was the son of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, and Lady Louisa Jane Russell.

Biography

Lord Hamilton was educated, like his father, at Wellington and Christ Church, Oxford. After graduating from Oxford with a BA, he entered Parliament as Conservative MP for County Donegal, a constituency he represented from 1860 to 1880. After serving as High Sheriff of Tyrone for 1863, he 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 was chosen Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1886, a post he held until his death.^[1] In 1887 he was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland.

Abercorn held several positions after acceding to that title, including Groom of the Stool (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.^[2]

He was also created a Knight of the Garter, and died of pneumonia in London at the age of seventy-three. He is buried in the cemetery at Baronscourt Parish Church, the traditional burial place of the Dukes of Abercorn and their families.^[3]

Family and children

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

• 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 HRH Princess Alexandra of Wales as sponsor at her baptism, she was lost at sea aboard RMS Leinster, 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 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.
• Lord (unnamed) Hamilton (31 October 1886 – 31 October 1886) (same day)
• 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.

Through his oldest son James Albert Edward Hamilton, he is a great-great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Ancestry

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn.

• "James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn" at The Peerage
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Abercorn
• Portraits of James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn at the National Portrait Gallery, London