Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet of Donalong

Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet (c. 1607 – 1679) was a Scottish-Irish baronet, who fought for the royalists under his brother-in-law James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond during the Irish Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. He was father of Antoine Hamilton, author of the Mémoires du comte de Grammont, of Richard Hamilton, Jacobite general, and of Elizabeth, Countess de Gramont, "la belle Hamilton".

Birth and origins

George was born about 1607, probably in Paisley, Scotland. He was one of the eight or nine children, and the fourth of the five sons, of James Hamilton and his wife Marion Boyd. His father had been created 1st Earl of Abercorn by James VI and I in 1606. His paternal grandfather was Claud Hamilton, the 1st Lord of Paisley. George's mother was the daughter of Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock in Scotland.

He appears below among his brothers as the fourth son:

1. James (died 1670), who became the 2nd Earl of Abercorn;
2. Claud (died 1638), who established himself in Ireland;
3. William (died 1681), who became Baronet Hamilton of Westport and represented Henrietta Maria, Charles I's widow, at the pope;
4. George (c. 1607 – 1679), the subject of this article; and
5. Alexander (died before 1669), who became the founder of the German branch of the Hamiltons.

His sisters were:

1. Anne (1592–1620), who married Hugh, 5th Lord Sempill in 1611;
2. Margaret; and
3. Lucy.

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. His uncle George of Greenlaw pushed in the same direction.

Father's and grandfather's successions

He was about 11 years old on 23 March 1618 when his father, the 1st Earl of Abercorn, died. His father had been one of the biggest undertakers in James VI and I's 1611 Plantation of Ulster and had as such acquired large estates in Ireland, mainly around Strabane in County Tyrone. His eldest brother, James, inherited his father's title of Earl of Abercorn, but the Irish estates were shared among the younger sons according to his father's will. The lion's share, including Strabane, went to George's elder brother Claud. George inherited Donalong, which would later appear in the territorial designation of his baronetcy in 1660. His father had predeceased his grandfather, the 1st Lord Paisley, who died three years later in 1621. George's eldest brother James, the 2nd Earl of Abercorn inherited at that time the title of Lord Paisley and the Scottish lands of the family.

George also became the owner of land around Roscrea and Nenagh in northern Munster, perhaps at his father's death or when his uncle George of Greenlaw and Roscrea died. He also became owner, together with Sir Basil Brooke and Sir George Russell of the Knockaunderrig silver mine at Knockanroe in the Silvermine Mountains south of the village of Silvermines, which is south of Nenagh.

While serving in the army

In 1627 he succeeded Sir Roger Hope to the command of a company of foot in the Irish Army.

In 1629 he married Mary Butler, youngest daughter of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles. Her eldest brother, James Butler, at that time styled Viscount Thurles, thereby became his brother-in-law. In 1640, James Butler, by then Earl of Ormond, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Irish army.

In 1632 his mother died in the Canongate in Edinburgh.

In 1641, at the beginning of the Irish Rebellion he was, during a visit to England, suspected to support the rebellion as he was Catholic. He was arrested and shortly held at the Tower of London but was soon released on bail. In that same year Phelim O'Neill burned Strabane Castle and sent him Jean Gordon, his brother Claude's widow and her children who had been living in Strabane Castle.

On 2 February 1641/2 the Knockaunderrig Silver Mine, which Sir George operated together with Sir Basil Brooks and Sir William Russell, was attacked by local rebels under the leadership of Hugh O'Kennedy and 32 protestant English miners seem to have been killed.

In September 1646, during the Irish Confederate Wars while he was elsewhere, Owen Roe O'Neil, a Confederate leader, attacked and captured Roscrea Castle where his wife and children lived. The confederates spared his family but put everybody else to the sword. Owen O'Neill was leading his army south after his victory over the Scottish Covenanters at Benburb in June and was now attacking the royalists as directed by Rinuccini, the papal nuncio.

In January 1649 he was appointed receiver-general of the revenues for Ireland succeeding to Lord Roscommon. He was also made a colonel of foot in the Irish army and upheld the Royalist cause against Cromwell. In 1650 he was governor of Nenagh castle for his brother in law, James Butler, at that time the 12th Earl of Ormond, leader of the royalists. At the end of 1650 he defended the castle against the Parliamentarian army under Henry Ireton, which attacked it on the way from the siege of Limerick back to their winter quarters at Kilkenny. He surrendered the castle on 10 November 1650 after Ireton had menaced to breach its walls with artillery.

French exile (1651–1661)

His Irish lands were confiscated, and in spring 1651 he and his family followed Ormond into French exile. They first went to Caen where Ormond's wife Elizabeth Preston lived since 1648. Ormond introduced him to Charles II's exile court at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. His wife went to Paris where she lived in the convent of the Feuillantines. In 1656 or 1567 Charles sent him, together with Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry to Madrid on a fruitless diplomatic mission.

Restoration

In 1660, after the Restoration, he returned to London and stayed at the court of Charles II at Whitehall. In that same year the king created him Baronet of Donalong and Nenagh for his services to the royal cause. The two places mentioned in the territorial designation of the baronetcy are both in Ireland but quite far from each other. Donalong (also called Dunnalong) is in County Tyrone, Ulster, whereas Nenagh is in County Tipperary, Munster. However, sources differ on whether this baronetcy is in the Irish baronetage, the Scottish baronetage, or in that of Nova Scotia. Burke (1869), Millar (1890), and Cokayne (1903) say it is Irish. Burke (1949) says it is Scottish. Lodge (1789) says the baronetcy is in the baronetage of Nova Scotia.

Marriage and children

In 1629 George Hamilton married Mary Butler, youngest daughter of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles. They had nine children: six sons and three daughters.

The nine children were:

1. James (died 1673), who became ranger of Hyde Park and lost a leg in a sea-fight;
2. George (died 1676), who was killed in French service at the Col de Saverne.
3. Elizabeth (1641–1708), who was a famous beauty and married Philibert de Gramont;
4. Anthony (1646-1720), who fought for the Jacobites and wrote the Mémoires du comte de Grammont;
5. Thomas (died 1687), who served in the Royal Navy and died in Boston, Massachusetts;
6. Richard (died 1717), who fought for the Jacobites and was taken prisoner at the Boyne.
7. John (died 1691), Colonel in the Irish army, comte de Hamilton, was killed in the Battle of Aughrim;
8. Lucia (died 1676), who married Sir Donough O'Brien in 1674.
9. Margaret, who married in July 1674 Mathew Forde of Seaforde County Down and Coolgreany County Wexford.

Death

He died in 1679 at the age of 71 or 72 years. He was succeeded by his grandson James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn.