James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Abercorn


James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Abercorn was a Scottish peer. He, his wife, his mother, and most of his family were recusants. Implementing his father's will he gave his Irish title of Baron Hamilton of Strabane to his younger brother Claud. His younger brothers inherited his father's Irish lands, while he received the Scottish ones, which he squandered away, being deep in debt in his later days.

Birth and origins

James was born about 1604, probably in Paisley, Scotland. He was the eldest son of James Hamilton and his wife Marion Boyd. His father was an undertaker in the plantation of Ulster and would be created 1st Earl of Abercorn by James VI and I in 1606. His paternal grandfather was Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord of Paisley. James's mother was the eldest daughter of Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock in Scotland.


He was one of the eight or nine siblings.
His father had been a Protestant, but his mother, Marion Boyd, was a recusant, who brought him, like all his siblings, up as a Catholic. On 10 April 1606 his father was created Earl of Abercorn and Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick.

Baron Hamilton of Strabane

On 8 May 1617, when he was only about 12 years old, he was created Baron Hamilton of Strabane, in the peerage of Ireland, with remainder to the heirs male of the body of his father. This title refers to the town in County Tyrone, Ulster, where his father had built a castle. The purpose of the creation was to give the family a seat in the Irish House of Lords.

Earl of Abercorn

He succeeded his father as the 2nd Earl of Abercorn in 1618, and his grandfather, Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley, in 1621. Since his father had entailed his Irish lands on his younger brothers, he resigned the title of Baron Hamilton of Strabane on 11 November 1633. Charles I, King of England and Scotland then regranted it to his brother Claud. From his grandfather he inherited the Scottish estates of the family, notably Abercorn and Paisley, including Kilpatrick on the northern bank of the Clyde.

Grand tour

Sometime in the early 1620, Lord Abercorn, as he was now, went to the continent on "his travels" as the Grand Tour was called in his time. He spent several years travelling the continent and visited Catholic countries, France and Italy, which encouraged him in his Catholicism. He returned to Paisley in April 1627.

Marriage and children

In 1627 he married Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Lennox. He was 22, she was about 34, more than ten years older. She had been married to Lord Esmé Stewart and had had 11 children from him. Her first husband had died in 1624, being the 3rd Duke of Lennox. On November 1632 she obtained a royal license permitting her to retain her precedence as a dowager duchess.
With Abercorn she had three sons but the first two predeceased their father:
  1. James, who as the heir apparent held the courtesy title of Lord Paisley but predeceased his father without producing a male heir;
  2. William, who became a colonel but predeceased his father unmarried in the German wars; and
  3. George, who became the 3rd Earl of Abercorn.

    Persecution by the Kirk

Abercorn's problems with the Church of Scotland began with the process engaged by the Paisley Presbytery against his mother and some of her servants. In June 1626 she fled to James Law, the Archbishop of Glasgow for protection. The Bishop obtained a letter from the King, written by William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling that directed the church not to trouble her as long as she kept quiet. However, in April 1627 Abercorn returned from his travels on the continent and provoked the church by declaring himself openly a Catholic. On 20 January 1628 his mother, the Dowager Countess, was excommunicated by the Paisley Synod of the Church of Scotland. He escaped excommunication only by being absent at the royal court in London. His wife similarly was excommunicated on 3 February.
On 26 August 1632 his mother died in Edinburgh. On 21 August 1637 his wife died at Paisley and was buried "without ceremony" on 17 September. Like his mother she was a recusant. As Catholic, she was buried without religious ceremony. Her title as Baroness Clifton passed to James, her eldest son from her first marriage. At that time his father was deep in debt owing more than 400,000 merks to his creditors.
In 1649 Abercorn himself was excommunicated by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and ordered to leave Scotland.

Heir male of Hamilton

On 11 September 1651, the male line of the dukes of Hamilton failed when William Hamilton, the 2nd Duke died from wounds received at the Battle of Worcester fighting for Charles II of England against Cromwell. As the Duke had no sons, he was succeeded by his niece Anne Hamilton according to the succession rule of his title. It was found however that James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Abercorn was the male heir, which was thought of no consequence at the time. This status of the Abercorns being heir male later led to a dispute between the houses of Abercorn and Hamilton over the title of Duke of Châtellerault, when this title, which had belonged to James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, was revived by Napoleon III of France in 1864 in favour of the Duke of Hamilton.

Sale of Paisley

On 22 June 1652 Abercorn sold Paisley to the Earl of Angus for £13,333 6s 8d Scots. Angus sold it a year later for £160,000 to Lord Cochrane, who would later become the 1st Earl of DunDonald. The 8th Earl of Abercorn would buy Paisley back in 1764.

Death, succession, and timeline

Lord Abercorn died about 1670 and was succeeded by his son George as the 3rd Earl of Abercorn. George however died unmarried in Padua. The earldom passed to the descendants of Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane.