James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton


James George Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Duke of Brandon, KT was a Scottish peer.

Early years and education

Hamilton was the son of the 5th Duke of Hamilton, by his first wife, the former Lady Anne Cochrane, and was styled as Marquess of Clydesdale from his birth until his father's death. He was educated at Winchester College from 1734 to 1740. He matriculated at St Mary Hall, Oxford on 23 February 1741 and was created a DCL on 14 April 1743.
On 14 February 1752, Hamilton met the society beauty Elizabeth Gunning at Bedford House in London. According to Robert Walpole, the duke wished to marry her that night and he called for a local parson to perform the ceremony. However, without a licence, calling of banns and a ring, the parson refused and they were eventually married that night in Mayfair Chapel in a clandestine marriage, with a ring from a bed curtain. The couple had three children:
On 2 March 1743, he succeeded to his father's title of Duke of Hamilton.

Death

He died on 17 January 1758, aged 33, at Great Tew, Oxfordshire from a cold caught whilst out hunting. He was buried in February 1758 at the family mausoleum at Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.

Freemasonry

The 6th Duke of Hamilton held the position of Right Worshipful Master of the local Masonic Lodge, for three consecutive years from 1753 to 1755.

Ancestry