Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 1.djvu/59

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
abercorn
COMPLETE PEERAGE
9

12 Dec. 1844; P.C. 25 Feb. 1846; Groom of the Stole to the Prince Consort, 1846–59; LL.D. Cambridge, 5 July 1847; D.C.L. Oxford, 4 June 1856; LL.D. Dublin, together with the Prince of Wales and H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, 21 Apr. 1868; a Governor of Harrow School; sometime Col. in the Donegal Militia; Major-Gen. of the Royal Archers, the King's Body Guard of Scotland; Lord Lieut, of Ireland (for the first time) July 1866 to Dec. 1868. On 10 Aug. 1868 he was cr. MARQUESS OF HAMILTON[1] of Strabane, co. Tyrone, and DUKE OF ABERCORN [I.]. Grand Master of Freemasons [I.] 1874 till his death. From Feb. 1878 to Dec. 1876 he was (for the second time) Lord Lieut. of Ireland. He was subsequently Envoy Extraordinary[2] to Italy for the investiture (at Rome, 2 Mar. 1878) of King Humbert with the Order of the Garter. Chancellor of the University of Ireland, 1881. A Conservative in politics. He m., 25 Oct. 1832, from Gordon Castle, at Fochabers, co. Banff, Louisa Jane, 2nd da. of John (Russell), 6th Duke of Bedford, by his 2nd wife, Georgiana, 5th da. of Alexander (Gordon), 4th Duke of Gordon [S.]. He d. 31 Oct. 1885, in his 75th year, at Barons-court, and was bur. there.[3] Will dat. 13 Mar. 1869 to 2 Feb. 1877, pr. 27 Feb. 1886, over £144,000. His widow, who was b. 8 July 1812, member (3rd class) of the V.A.,[4] d. at Coats Castle, Pulborough, Sussex, 31 Mar., and was bur. 5 Apr. 1905, at Chenies, Beds. Will pr. above £24,000.

DUKEDOM [I.]
II.
MARQUESSATE [G.B.]
III.
EARLDOM and BARONY [S.]
XI.
1885.
2, 3, and 11. James (Hamilton), Duke of Abercorn [1868], Marquess of Hamilton of Strabane [1868], Viscount Strabane [1701], Lord Hamilton, Baron of Strabane [1617], and Baron of Mountcastle [1701], in the peerage of Ireland, also Marquess of Abercorn [1790] and Viscount Hamilton [1786] in that of Great Britain, also Earl of Abercorn [1606], Lord Paisley [1587],

    body in Scotland, 13 Jan. 1862, and to which he unsuccessfully asserted his rights before the Conseil d'Etat in Paris in 1866, see Appendix B in this volume. V.G.

  1. This creation was by promotion (!!) of his Irish Viscountcy of Strabane, a mode of procedure supposed to be authorised by the Act of the Irish Union, but (excepting in this instance) not acted upon since 1831, when its absurdity and possible illegality were noticed. If the Viscountcy of Strabane has been "promoted," what has become of it? It cannot both exist in its former state, and yet have been "promoted," to a higher.
  2. See list of these Garter missions in vol ii. Appendix B.
  3. Of his seven daughters, all were married to Peers, viz., (1) to the Earl of Lichfield; (2) to the Earl of Durham; (3) to the Duke of Buccleuch [S.]; (4) to the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe; (5) to the Earl Winterton [I.]; (6) to the Duke of Marlborough; and (7) to the Marquess of Lansdowne.
  4. A photograph of her and her 101 descendants was taken in July 1894.