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His Grace The Duke of Abercorn KG CB PC (Ire)
James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn, circa 1913
Born	(1838-08-24)24 August 1838 Brighton, Sussex
Died	3 June 1913(1913-06-03) (aged 74) Mayfair, London
Noble family	Hamilton
Spouse(s)	Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe ​ ​(m. 1869)​
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
Father	James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn
Mother	Lady Louisa Jane Russell

James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn KG CB PC (Ire) (24 August 1838 – 3 June 1913), 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, 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. He was educated, like his father, at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 28 May 1857. After graduating from Oxford with a BA in 1860, 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. 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. He was chosen Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1886, a post he held until his death. 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.

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.

In 1883, he held 76,500 acres in Tyrone and Donegal. He also held 2,100 acres in Scotland.

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)
• 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

• CB: Companion of the Bath (civil division), 1865
• KG: Knight of the Garter, 10 August 1892

Foreign

•  Austria-Hungary:
  • Commander of the Imperial Order of Leopold, 1881
  • Order of the Iron Crown
•  Denmark: S.K.: Grand Cross of the Dannebrog, 10 March 1888
•  Russian Empire: Order of St. Anna

Ancestry

Notes

1.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Abercorn, James Hamilton". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). 1922. p. 1.
2. "Births". Fife Herald. 6 September 1838. p. 3. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
3. Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/33669. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33669. Retrieved 1 December 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. ^ Cokayne 1910, pp. 9–10.
5. Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Hamilton, James, Viscount" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
6. Army List, various dates.
7. "ADDRESS IN ANSWER TO HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 21 January 1886.
8. Waite, Arthur Edward (2007). A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. Vol. I. Cosimo, Inc. p. 400. ISBN 978-1-60206-641-0.
9. "The King – the special Embassies". The Times. No. 36410. London. 23 March 1901. p. 12.
10. Bishop, The Earl (30 August 2012). "The Earl-Bishop: Baronscourt Parish Church".
11. Cokayne 1910, p. 7, line 22: "On 15 Oct. 1790, he was cr. MARQUESS OF ABERCORN ..."
12. "Births". London Evening Standard. 4 November 1886. p. 1. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
13. Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 69
14. Sir James Balfour Paul, ed. (1904). "Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn". The Scots Peerage. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp. 72–73. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
15. "Ritter-Orden: Österreichisch-kaiserlicher Leopold-orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1913, p. 64, retrieved 9 February 2021
16. Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1889) . Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1889 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1889] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via da:DIS Danmark.

References

• Cokayne, George E. (1910). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. I, Ab-Adam to Basing. London: St. Catherine Press.

External links

• 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

• 1838 births
• 1913 deaths
• Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
• Dukes of Abercorn
• High sheriffs of Tyrone
• Lord-lieutenants of Donegal
• Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
• Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Donegal constituencies (1801–1922)
• UK MPs 1859–1865
• UK MPs 1865–1868
• UK MPs 1868–1874
• UK MPs 1874–1880
• UK MPs who inherited peerages
• Donegal Militia officers
• North Irish Horse officers
• Grooms of the Stool
• Companions of the Order of the Bath
• Knights of the Garter
• Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog
• Recipients of the Order of St. Anna
• People educated at Harrow School