James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn

James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn, PC (Ire) ( – 1734) was a Scottish and Irish peer and politician. Appointed a groom of the bedchamber to Charles II after the death of his father in battle, he took the Williamite side at the Glorious Revolution and helped relieve Derry. Shortly after inheriting a Scottish and Irish peerage from a second cousin, he was created a Viscount in Ireland for his services to the Williamite cause.

Birth and origins
James was born in 1661 or 1662 the eldest son of James Hamilton and his wife Elizabeth Colepeper. His father was a colonel in the English army, Hyde Park Ranger, a groom of the bedchamber to Charles II of England, and a member of a cadet branch of the Abercorns. James's mother was a daughter of John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper His parents married in 1661. They had six sons, of which three survived into adulthood:

He heads the list of brothers below as the eldest:

 James (c. 1661 – 1734), the subject of this article;
 George (died 1692), who became a colonel in the foot guards and fell in the Battle of Steenkerque; and
 William (died 1737).

He was raised a Protestant as his father, who was originally a Catholic, had become a Protestant to marry his mother. He was the heir apparent of the Donalong cadet branch of the earls of Abercorn, which started with his grandfather Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet, of Donalong, who was the fourth son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn.

Father's and grandfather's deaths
In 1673 when he was about twelve years old, his father died from a wound received at a sea-fight with the Dutch in the Third Anglo-Dutch War. He was compensated by an appointment as an extra groom of the bedchamber on 18 April 1680. His father had predeceased his grandfather who still held the land of Donalong between Strabane and Derry in Ireland. At his grandfather's death in 1679, he inherited the land and succeeded to his grandfather's baronetcy, i.e. Baronet Hamilton of Donalong, but did not use the title.

Marriage
He married Elizabeth Reading, daughter of Sir Robert Reading, 1st Baronet and Jane Hannay, widow of Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Mountrath, in January 1683/4. Charles II issued a warrant on 22 January 1683/4 to create Hamilton "Baron Hamilton of Bellamont", county Dublin, in the Irish peerage, but it never passed the seals.

His post in the bedchamber ended with the king's death in 1685. He had entered a career in the army and held a commission in the army of the new king, James II.

Expedition to Derry
In 1688 at the Glorious Revolution he sided with William. In spring 1689 when war menaced in northern Ireland, he was sent to Derry with provisions in order to prepare the city for a likely siege. On 21 March 1689 he arrived at Derry from England with two ships: the frigate  and the merchantman Deliverance, bringing gunpowder, munition, weapons, and £595 in cash. These provisions were to be crucial during the Siege of Derry. He also brought the commission from King William and Queen Mary that confirmed Colonel Robert Lundy as Williamite governor of the town.

He therefore helped to defend Derry. His uncle Richard Hamilton (officer), lieutenant-general in the Irish Royal Army, attacked it.

After the end of the Williamite war in Ireland, he represented Tyrone in the Irish House of Commons between 1692 and 1699.

Abercorn succession
In June 1701, upon the death of his second cousin Charles, he succeeded to the titles of Earl of Abercorn and Baron Hamilton of Strabane and entered into the possession of the corresponding lands. About half a year later, on 2 December 1701, William rewarded Abercorn with the titles of Viscount Strabane and Baron Mountcastle, in the Peerage of Ireland. The first was an enhancement of his title of Baron of Strabane. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords (as Viscount Strabane) on 21 September 1703, and in the Parliament of Scotland (as Earl of Abercorn) on 3 October 1706. By April 1711, he had been appointed also to the Privy Council of Ireland.

Children
He had 14 children from his wife of which 10 (six sons and four daughters) survived into adulthood:
 James (1686–1744), who became the 7th Earl;
 John (c. 1694 – 1714), who died unmarried;
 Elizabeth Hamilton, who married firstly on 2 January 1711 William Brownlow, and secondly in 1741 Martin, Comte de Kearnie;
 George (died 1775), MP, who married and had issue;
 Mary (born before 1704), who in January 1719 married Henry Colley of Carbury Castle,  County Kildare  and have issue;
 Philippa Hamilton (died 1767), who married Rev. Benjamin Pratt without issue, then married Michael O'Connell of London and had one son;
 Jane (before 1704 – 1753), who married Archibald Douglas-Hamilton as his third wife;
 Rev. Hon. Francis Hamilton (1700–1746), who married and had issue;
 William (1703–1721), who was lost aboard HMS Royal Anne Galley; and
 Charles (1704–1786), MP, who married and had issue.

Death
Abercorn died on 28 November 1734 at the age of 73 and was buried on 3 December in the Ormond vault of the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey. The Ormond Vault was opened in 1868 and was found to be filled with many coffins stacked one over the other. Their number was estimated at 59.  Individual identification beyond the top layer was not attempted. Abercorn's remains may well be there.

He was succeeded by his eldest son James as the 7th Earl. His wife died on 19 March 1754.

Notes and references

 
 
 
 
 
  
  - Viscounts
 
  - Abercorn to Balmerino

External links
 Genealogy of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn on The Peerage website
 Robert O. Bucholz Database of Court Officers 1660 – 1837 Loyola University of Chicago

Category:1660s births
Category:1734 deaths
Category:17th-century Irish politicians
Category:18th-century Irish politicians
Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey
06
James
Hamilton, James
Hamilton, James
Hamilton, James
Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
Category:Peers of Ireland created by William III
Hamilton, James