The Dukedom of Hamilton, one of the most important peerages in Scotland, was created in 1643, and as of 2021, we are on the 16th Duke of Hamilton. Here, Ilana Barnett looks at the lives of four of the most eccentric dukes.
Hamilton Palace around 1880.
The Dukedom of Hamilton is one of the highest peerages of Scotland, second only to the Duke of Rothesay, a title held by the eldest son of the Sovereign. As the Hereditary Keeper of the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the seat of the Scottish Parliament) and the Hereditary Bearer of the Crown of Scotland, they fulfill important national and ceremonial roles.
As with all powerful and prominent families, many of its members led what you could call colorful lives. None more so than the 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th dukes who more than contributed to the reputation and notoriety of one of the premier families of Scotland.
The Dueling Duke
The 4th Duke of Hamilton, James, had a way of courting bad press. He was described as perpetually drunk, selfish, arrogant, a disaster and a wastrel. He was a leader of the Scottish National Party and a vocal opponent of Scotland’s union with England. In November 1712, he was killed in a duel, which shocked polite society - and then the law was changed.
Hamilton’s adversary was Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, with whom he had been embroiled for 11 years in a bitter legal dispute. Both men had married nieces of the Earl of Macclesfield but on his deathbed, it was reported that the Earl named Mohun as his sole heir. Hamilton disputed the validity of the confession and the credibility of one of the witnesses. Hamilton might have had good reason to doubt Mohun’s word. Mohan was no saint, having already stood trial three times for murder. Finally, emotions became so heated that they decided a duel was needed to settle the matter for once and for all.
They met in Hyde Park along with their Seconds, George MacCartney and Colonel John Hamilton. In the event Hamilton killed Mohun, who in turn severely wounded Hamilton. Furious, MacCartney lunged at Hamilton, running him through with his sword. It is very likely that Colonel Hamilton in retaliation fought MacCartney as both men fled to the continent in fear of arrest. The duel had been so bloody that the government was persuaded to ban duels using swords in favor of pistols, which inflicted less horrific injuries. The incident was immortalized by Thackeray in his novel The History of Henry Esmond.
A Curtain Ring Wedding
The 6th Duke of Hamilton’s (another James) claim to notoriety was very different. He enters the history books as a womanizer and debaucher. On February 14, 1752, he finally found a woman he could not have his wicked way with, in the form of the society beauty, Elizabeth Gunning. Elizabeth was penniless but stuck to her principles and saved herself and her reputation from ruin. Her price – marriage. That same night at 12.30, the desperate and lustful James plucked a parson out of bed to perform the marriage, using a bed curtain ring as a wedding ring. Presumably at around 2am, he finally got the girl and she got her duke.
The Hamilton House Dance
Following in family tradition, Douglas, the 8th Duke of Hamilton, was famous for his looks, which he used to good effect as a womanizer. He inherited the title on his brother’s death in 1769. In April 1778, he married Elizabeth Anne Burrell, a match his family disapproved of as unequal. They had no children and were divorced after sixteen years, possibly due to the duke’s numerous affairs (although the duchess was also rumored to bed hop on occasion). Affairs were pretty much the norm amongst the upper classes but there were unwritten codes of conduct, discretion being one. Hamilton, on the other hand, didn’t bother with any pretense of propriety, a trait one of his favorite mistresses, Frances Twysden, wife of the Earl of Eglinton, seemed to share. On one occasion, she brazenly asked her husband’s servant to admit the Duke of Hamilton into her bedchamber. Loyally the servant refused. The dance the “Hamilton House” was named after the duke and duchess with the steps and numerous changes of partners symbolizing their infidelities.
The Proudest Man in England
If you visit the town of Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, make sure you take time to see the Hamilton Mausoleum. The mausoleum, all that remains of the once magnificent palace, which existed on the site, is considered to be one of the finest and most remarkable private tombs in the world.
The visionary behind its construction was Alexander Douglas Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton. As well as being a Knight of the Garter, Grandmaster of the Freemasons and a British ambassador, he was also a famous dandy. Lord Lemington in his book In The Days of the Dandies wrote “Never was such a magnifico as the 10th Duke”. Extremely proud of his ancestry, he was convinced he was heir to the Scottish crown. His inflated sense of his own importance resulted in him hiring a hermit to adorn the grounds of Hamilton Palace. Increasingly eccentric as he grew older, he was affectionately called ‘El Magnifico’ by the locals as he wandered around the town of Hamilton wearing the Douglas tartan.
Hamilton died at the age of 84 in London on August 18, 1852, his body mummified and placed in a sarcophagus (the only receptacle he considered worthy of him) and then transported to the mausoleum. He had come by the sarcophagus whilst acting as a buyer for the British Museum in Egypt. The British Museum, uninterested in the purchase of a sarcophagus of a non-royal, allowed Hamilton to keep it. It is not known how they managed to fit his body in the sarcophagus as the duke was eight inches taller than the original occupant - it has been suggested that his legs were rearranged with a sledgehammer and bent under him. Unfortunately, as the mausoleum had no roof, the duke had the ignominy of lying in state with building work going on around him. Probably not the grand exit the duke had envisaged for himself. Eventually his sarcophagus was placed on a black marble slab, resting in a manner as befitted “El Magnifico”.
What do you think of the Dukes of Hamilton? Let us know below.
Ilana writes at The Haunted Palace Blog here.
