James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn

James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn KG KP PC (30 November 1869 – 12 September 1953), styled Marquess of Hamilton between 1885 and 1913, was a British peer and Unionist politician. He was the first Governor of Northern Ireland, a post he held between 1922 and 1945.

His Grace The Duke of Abercorn KG KP PC
The then Marquess of Hamilton, c. 1894. He succeeded as Duke of Abercorn in June 1913.
Governor of Northern Ireland
In office 12 December 1922 – 6 September 1945
Monarchs	George V Edward VIII George VI
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	The Earl Granville
Personal details
Born	(1869-11-30)30 November 1869 Hamilton Place, Piccadilly, London
Died	12 September 1953(1953-09-12) (aged 83) London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Unionist
Spouse	Lady Rosalind Bingham
Children	Lady Mary Gilmour Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer Lady Katherine Seymour James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn Lord Claud Hamilton
Parents	James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn (father) Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe (mother)

Flag of the governor of Northern Ireland

Background and education

Born in Hamilton Place, Piccadilly, London, he was the eldest son of the 2nd Duke of Abercorn and godson of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. His mother Lady Mary Anna was the fourth daughter of the 1st Earl Howe. He was educated at Eton and subsequently served first in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers until 1892 when he joined the 1st Life Guards. Hamilton was later transferred as major to the North Irish Horse.

In early 1901, he accompanied his father on a special diplomatic mission to announce the accession of King Edward to the governments of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Russia, Germany, and Saxony.

Political career

In the 1900 general election, Lord Hamilton stood successfully as Unionist candidate for Londonderry City, and three years later he became Treasurer of the Household, a post he held until the fall of Balfour's Conservative administration in 1905. After serving for a time as an Opposition whip, Hamilton succeeded his father as third Duke of Abercorn in 1913. From the 1890s until the partition of Ireland he was a prominent figure in the Unionist campaign to resist Home Rule in Ireland. In 1922 he was appointed governor of the newly created Northern Ireland. He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone from 1917 until his death, having previously been a Deputy Lieutenant for County Donegal. Abercorn was a popular Royal representative amongst the Unionist population in Northern Ireland, and was reappointed to the post in 1928 after completing his first term of office. In 1931, he declined the offer of the governor generalship of Canada, and three years later he was again reappointed governor for a third term. He remained in this capacity until his resignation in July 1945.

Abercorn was made the last non-royal Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick in 1922, and six years later became a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. In the latter year, he was also the recipient of an honorary degree from the Queen's University of Belfast, and received the Royal Victorian Chain in 1945, the same year he was sworn of the Privy Council.

Family and children

Abercorn married Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Bingham (1869–1958), only daughter of the 4th Earl of Lucan and his wife, Lady Cecilia Catherine Gordon-Lennox (1838–1910; daughter of the 5th Duke of Richmond), at St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, on 1 November 1894. They had three daughters and two sons:

• Lady Mary Cecilia Rhodesia Hamilton (1896–1984), who married twice, firstly in 1917 Capt/Maj. Robert Orlando Rodolph Kenyon-Slaney (1892–1965), with whom she divorced in 1930, and, secondly, in 1930 to Sir John Gilmour, 2nd Baronet. With her first husband she had two daughters and a son, and with her second husband one son.
• Lady Cynthia Elinor Beatrix Hamilton (1897–1972), who married in 1919 Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer (1892–1975). They had a son and two daughters. By their son they became grandparents of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• Lady Katherine Hamilton (1900–1985), who married in 1930 Lt.-Col. Sir Reginald Henry Seymour (1878–1938), a descendant of the 1st Marquess of Hertford.
• James Edward Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn (1904–1979)
• Lord Claud David Hamilton (1907–1968), who worked as a barrister in the Inner Temple, and who in 1946 married Genesta Mary Heath. He was her third husband; they had no children.

Abercorn died at his London home in 1953, and was buried at Baronscourt in County Tyrone.

Arms

Coat of arms of James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn

Crest Out of a ducal coronet or an oak, fructed and penetrated transversely in the main stem by a frame-saw proper, the blade inscribed with the word "Though" Escutcheon Quartcrly: 1st and 4th gules three cinquefoils pierced ermine (Hamilton); 2nd and 3rd, argent a ship with sails furled and ours in action sable (Earls of Arran); in the point of honour over all, an escutcheon azure, charged with three fleur-de-lis or. and surmounted by a French ducal coronet (Châtellerault) Supporters Two antelopes argent, armed, unguled, ducally gorged and chained or Motto Though and Sola Nobilitas Virtus (Virtue is the only nobility)

Ancestry

Ancestors of James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn

8. James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton 4. James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn 9. Harriet Douglas 2. James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn 10. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford 5. Lady Louisa Jane Russell 11. Lady Georgiana Gordon 1. James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn 12. Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon 6. Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe 13. Lady Sophia Howe, 2nd Baroness Howe 3. Lady Mary Curzon-Howe 14. Admiral Sir John Gore 7. Anne Gore 15. Georgiana Montagu

References

• Cokayne, George Edward (1910). Vicary Gibbs (ed.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Vol. I. London: The St Catherine Press Ltd.
• Burke, John (2003). Charles Mosley (ed.). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition. Vol. I. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage and Gentry Llc.
• Charles Roger Dod; Robert Phipps Dod (1915). Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland for 1915. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co. Ltd.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Abercorn
• Portraits of James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn at the National Portrait Gallery, London