Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane

Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane (c. 1605 – 1638) was the founder of the Strabane branch of the Hamiltons. He died relatively young at about 32 and his wife, Jean Gordon, married Phelim O'Neill, one of the leaders of the 1641 rebellion, after his death.

Claud Hamilton
Baron Hamilton of Strabane
Reign	1634–1638
Predecessor	James, 1st Earl of Abercorn
Successor	James, 3rd Baron H. of Strabane
Born	about 1605
Died	14 June 1638
Spouse(s)	Jean Gordon
Detail Issue James, George, Catherine, & Cecilia
Father	James, 1st Earl of Abercorn
Mother	Marion Boyd

Birth and origins

Claud Hamilton was born near the beginning of the 17th century, probably in Paisley, Scotland. He was the second son of James Hamilton and his wife Marion Boyd. His father had been created Lord Abercorn by James VI and I in 1603[1] and was further advanced to Earl of Abercorn in 1606.[2] His paternal grandfather was Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord of Paisley. Claud's mother was a daughter of Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock.[3][4] Both sides of his family were of ancient Scottish nobility.

His father had been a Protestant, but his mother, Marion Boyd, was a Catholic, who brought him, like all his siblings, up in that religion. His uncle George of Greenlaw pushed in the same direction.[5]

Family tree

Claud Hamilton with wife, parents, and other selected relatives. Claud 1st Ld Paisley 1546–1621 Margaret Seton d. 1616 James 1st Earl 1575–1618 Marion Boyd d. 1632 Recusant George of Greenlaw & Roscrea d. bef. 1657 Frederick 1590–1647 James 2nd Earl d. 1670 William 1st Bt. Westport d. 1680 George 1st Bt. Donalong d. 1679 Claud 2nd Baron d. 1638 Jean Gordon Phelim O'Neill d. 1653 George 3rd Earl c. 1636 – bef. 1683 James 3rd Baron 1633–1655 George 4th Baron 1636/7 – 1668 James c. 1630– 1673 Claud 4th Earl 1659–1691 Charles 5th Earl d. 1701 James 6th Earl c. 1661 – 1734 Legend XXX Claud Hamilton XXX Earls of Abercorn XXX Barons H. of Strabane XXX O'Neills This family tree is partly derived from the Abercorn pedigree pictured in Cokayne.[6] Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.

Claud was one of eight[7] or nine[8] siblings:

Claud listed among his brothers

He appears among his brothers as the second son: James (c. 1603 – 1670), became the 2nd Earl of Abercorn;[9] Claud (c. 1605 – 1638);[10] William (died 1681), became Baronet Hamilton of Westport, and represented Henrietta Maria at the pope;[11][12][13] George (c. 1607 – 1679), became Baronet Hamilton of Donalong;[14][15][16][lower-alpha 1] and Alexander (died before 1669), became the founder of the German branch of the Hamiltons.[17]

Claud's sisters[lower-alpha 2]
Anne (1592–1620), married Hugh, 5th Lord Sempill in 1611;[18] Margaret (died 1642), married Sir William Cunninghame of Caprington.;[19] Isobel (1600–1620);[20] and Lucy (born before 1618), for whom a marriage was arranged with Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim, but the wedding never took place;[21]

Early life and father's succession

Mr Hamilton matriculated at the University of Glasgow in 1621 but seems to have left university without obtaining a degree.

His father died in 1618.[22] His eldest brother succeeded as 2nd Earl of Abercorn and inherited his father's Scottish estates, but the Irish estates had been settled on him and his younger brothers in his father's will.[23] His was the lion's share of these properties: the Strabane estate and the castle that his father had built there.

His father had also wanted him to inherit the Irish title as Baron Hamilton of Strabane to go with the Strabane estate. However, this proved difficult because of the title's ordinary primogeniture succession. The eldest brother therefore obligatorily succeeded to the title in 1618 and then resigned it, so that the title could be regranted to his younger brother by the crown. This took time and was only to happen in 1633.

His father predeceased his grandfather, who still was Lord of Paisley and held the lands of the former Scottish abbey, which Claud's eldest brother eventually inherited in 1621.[24]

Algeo's crime

In May 1628 Hamilton's servant Claud Algeo was suspected to be a Catholic and was served with a convocation to appear at the presbytery of Paisley by Ramsay, an officer of the Church of Scotland.[25] However, Algeo assaulted Ramsay[26] and Claud Hamilton supported him. Claud was briefly jailed in June 1628 in Edinburgh Castle for abetting his servant in an assault and ordered to pay £40 to Ramsay.[27][28] Claud Algeo fled to his master's Irish estates.

Lord Strabane by regrant

In 1633, his elder brother, James, the 2nd Earl of Abercorn in Scotland and the 1st Baron Hamilton of Strabane in Ireland, resigned his Irish title to the crown, which regranted it to Claud on 14 August 1634, with the original precedence.[29] He thereby became the 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane.

Marriage and children

On 28 November 1632, Lord Strabane, as he was now, married Jean Gordon, fourth daughter of George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly.[30] The Huntlys were a Catholic family from Aberdeenshire Scotland.[31]

Claud and Jean had four children, two sons:

1. James (1633 – 1655), became the 3rd Baron Hamilton of Strabane;[32] and
2. George (1636/7 – 1668), became the 4th Baron Hamilton of Strabane;[33]

—and two daughters:

1. Catherine (died 1670/1), married James Hamilton of Manorhamilton, the eldest brother of Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Viscount Boyne and two other husbands afterwards;[34][35] and
2. Cecilia, also called Mariana, married Richard Perkins of Lifford.[36][37]

Death and timeline

Lord Strabane died on 14 June 1638, probably at the Castle of Strabane, and was buried at Leckpatrick, Strabane, County Tyrone.[10] He was only in his thirties. His eldest son, James, succeeded him at the age of five as the 3rd Baron Hamilton of Strabane. His widow married Phelim O'Neill in November 1649.[38]

Timeline
As his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages.
Age	Date	Event
0	1605, estimate	Born.[lower-alpha 3]
14	1619, 23 Mar	Father died and he inherited Strabane.[22]
16	1621	Grandfather died.[24]
20	1625, 27 Mar	Accession of King Charles I, replacing King James I.[40]
23	1628	His servant Algeo's crime.[27]
27	1632, 28 Nov	Marries Jean Gordon.[30]
28	1633	Made 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane by regrant.[29]
33	1638, 14 Jun	Died and was buried at Leckpatrick.[10]

Notes

1. The baronetcy is in the baronetage of Ireland according to Millar (1890)[14] and to Burke, 31st (1869)[15] but in the baronetage of Scotland according to Burke, 99th (1949)[16] edition of Burke's Peerage.
2. There were four sisters according to Millar (1890)[8]
3. Claud, being the 2nd son, must be born several years before the fourth son, George, who was born about 1607.[39]

1. Cokayne 1910, p. 2, line 8"On 5 Apr. 1603 he was cr. LORD ABERCORN, co. Linlithgow [S.], to him and his heirs whatsoever."
2. Cokayne 1910, p. 2, line 11: "On 10 July 1606 he was cr. EARL OF ABERCORN, LORD PAISLEY, HAMILTON, MOUNTCASTELL, and KILPATRICK [S.], to him and his heirs male whatever."
3. Burke 1869, p. 2, right column: "He [Abercorn] m. Marion eldest dau. of Thomas, 5th Lord Boyd, and dying vita patris, 16 March 1617, left issue,"
4. Millar 1890, p. 177, left column, line 22"Abercorn married Marion, eldest daughter of Thomas, fifth Lord Boyd ..."
5. Wasser 2004, p. 838: "... was raised, along with his siblings, by his uncle, Sir George Hamilton of Greenlaw, who converted them to Roman Catholicism."
6. Cokayne 1910, p. 4: "Tabular pedigree of the Earls of Abercorn"
7. Burke 1869, p. 2, right column, lines 57The list starts with James, 2nd Earl, and ends with Lucy on page 3, left column, line 39. It is interrupted by the indented list of Sir George's children.
8. Millar 1890, p. 177, left column, line 23"... by whom [Marion] he had five sons and four daughters."
9. Paul 1904, p. 48, line 22: "James, second Earl of Abercorn, born about 1603, succeeded his father 1618 ..."
10. Paul 1904, p. 50, line 7: "Dying 14 June 1638, he [Claude Hamilton] was buried in the church of Leckpatrick, County Tyrone."
11. Millar 1890, p. 177, line 32: "Sir William, the third son, represented Henrietta Maria, when queen dowager, at the papal court."
12. Burke 1869, p. 2, right column, line 80: "William (Sir), m. Jane dau. of Alexander Colquhoun, Laird of Luss, and widow of Alan, Lord Cathcart, but left no issue."
13. Paul 1904, p. 47: "Sir William died at South Shields, 25 June 1681"
14. Millar 1890, p. 177, left column, line 48: "On the Restoration he returned to England, was created a baronet of Ireland in 1660, and received other grants from Charles II in recompense for his services."
15. Burke 1869, p. 2, right column, bottom: "George (Sir) of Donalong, co. Tyrone, and Nenagh, co. Tipperary, created a baronet of Ireland, in 1660, for his services to the royal cause."
16. Burke 1949, p. 3, right column, line 1: "George (Sir) of Donalong, co. Tyrone, and Nenagh, co. Tipperary, created a baronet of Scotland, about 1660;"
17. Paul 1904, p. 47, line 28: "Sir Alexander Hamilton of Holborn, London married Elizabeth ..."
18. Paul 1910, p. 555: "He [Hugh Sempill] married in 1611 ... first Anne Hamilton, eldest daughter of James, 1st Earl of Abercorn."
19. Paul 1904, p. 48, line 9: "Margaret, married 1628 to Sir William Cunningham of Caprington, in the County of Ayr, Knight, and died without issue."
20. Paul 1904, p. 48, line 12: "8. Isobel named with her brothers and her sisters Margaret and Lucrece as parties to an action in the Court of Session on 4 November 1620."
21. Paul 1904, p. 48, line 15: "Lucy or Lucrece, contracted by her father, when very young, to Randal, Lord Dunluce, afterwards Marquess of Antrim, but he not abiding by the contract, she never married; and by letters from Whitehall, 28 October 1627, the Earl of Antrim was ordered to pay £3000 to James, Earl of Abercorn for his son's failure to implement the contract."
22. Paul 1904, p. 47, line 5: "... he [James Hamilton] died in the parish of Monkton, a month after, in the life of his father, 23 March 1618, aged forty-three, and was buried 29 April following in the abbey church in Paisley."
23. Paul 1904, p. 48: "As the Irish estates were provided to his [the 2nd Earl's] younger brothers by the will of their father, he resigned ..."
24. Holmes 2004, p. 778, right column: "Lord Claud lived in retirement for over twenty years, dying in 1621, and was buried in Paisley Abbey."
25. Metcalfe 1909, p. 237, line 12: "on May 15 [1628] George Ramsay, the Presbytery officer, being commanded to serve the citation ... went to him with the charge ..."
26. Metcalfe 1909, p. 237, line 20: "... threw him to the ground under his feete ... punshed him with his hands and feete ..."
27. Metcalfe 1909, p. 239: "After twelve days' warding, Hamilton was released in order that he might attend to the affairs of his brother, the Earl of Abercorn, in Paisley and the west, on condition that he paid £40 to Ramsay for the assault."
28. Brown 1900, p. 327: "Complaint by James, Archbishop of Glasgow, the moderator and the brethren of the presbytery of Paysley for their interest and by George Ramsey, kirk officer ..."
29. Cokayne 1892, p. 152, bottom: "... in whose favour the Irish peerage had been resigned in 1633 ..."]
30. Paul 1904, p. 50, line 8: "He married, 28 November 1632, Lady Jean Gordon, fourth daughter of George, first Marquess of Huntly, by Lady Henrietta Stuart, daughter of Esme, first Duke of Lennox;"
31. Forbes-Leith 1889, p. 361: "List of the Catholic Nobility - Earls - Huntly (Gordon)"
32. Paul 1904, p. 50, line 26: "JAMES, third Lord Strabane, born in 1633 ..."
33. Paul 1904, p. 50, line 17: "George, fourth Lord Strabane."
34. Paul 1904, p. 50, line 18: "Catherine, married first, in 1647, to her cousin James Hamilton of manor-Hamilton, eldest brother of Gustavus ..."
35. Burke 1869, p. 2, right column, line 65: "... two daus. Catherine, m. 1st to James Hamilton Esq. ..."
36. Paul 1904, p. 50, line 24: "Cecilia, married to Richard Perkins ..."
37. Lodge 1789, p. 115, line 2: "... Mariana, to Richard Perkins of Lifford in the county of Donegall, Esq."
38. Webb 1878, p. 417, line 48: "In November 1649 he [Felim] married Lady Jane Gordon a daughter of the Marquis of Huntly and the widow of Lord Strabane."
39. Cokayne 1903, p. 305, line 4: "... was b. probably about 1607;"
40. Smyth 1839, p. xiii, line 18: "Charles I. / [Accession] / 27 March 1625"

References

• Brown, Peter Hume, ed. (1900), Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 2nd series, 2, Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House – 1627 to 1628
• Burke, Bernard (1869), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (31st ed.), London: Harrison
• Burke, Bernard (1949), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (99th ed.), London: Burke's Peerage Ltd.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1892), The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, 4 (1st ed.), London: George Bell and Sons – G to K (for Hamilton of Strabane)
• Cokayne, George Edward (1903), Complete Baronetage, 3, Exeter: William Pollard – 1649 to 1664 (for George Hamilton )
• Cokayne, George Edward (1910), Gibbs, Vicary (ed.), The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, 1 (2nd ed.), London: St Catherine Press – Ab-Adam to Basing (for Abercorn)
• Forbes-Leith, William (1889), Narratives of Scottish Catholics under Mary Stuart and James VI, London: Thomas Baker
• Holmes, Peter (2004), "Hamilton, Claud, first Lord Paisley (1546?–1621)", in Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 24, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 776–778, ISBN 0-19-861374-1
• Lodge, John (1789), The Peerage of Ireland, 5, Dublin: James Moore – Viscounts (for Boyne, Strabane)
• Metcalfe, William Musham (1909), A History of Paisley, Paisley: Alexander Gardner
• Millar, Alexander Hastie (1890), "Hamilton, James, first Earl of Abercorn (d.1617)", in Lee, Sidney (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, 24, New York: MacMillan and Co., pp. 176–177
• Paul, Sir James Balfour (1904), The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, 1, Edinburgh: David Douglas – Abercorn to Balmerino (for Abercorn)
• Paul, Sir James Balfour (1910), The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, 7, Edinburgh: David Douglas – Panmure to Sinclair (for Sempill)
• Smyth, Constantine (1839), Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland, London: Henry Butterworth (for Table of reigns)
• Webb, Alfred (1878), "O'Neill, Sir Felim", Compendium of Irish Biography, Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son, pp. 416–418
• Wasser, Michael (2004), "Hamilton, James, first earl of Abercorn (1575–1618)", in Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 24, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 837–838, ISBN 978-0198614111

Further reading

• Mac Cuarta, Brian (2015), "Scots Catholics in Ulster", in Edwards, David (ed.), The Scots in Early Stuart Ireland, Manchester: Manchester University Press, ISBN 9781784996604 – Snippet view