James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn PC (12 August 1575 – 23 March 1618) was a Scottish peer.

He was the eldest son of Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley (4th son of James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran), and of Margaret, daughter of George Seton, 7th Lord Seton.

Hamilton was made Sheriff of Linlithgow in 1600, received large grants of lands in Scotland and Ireland, was created in 1603 Baron Abercorn, and on 10 July 1606 was rewarded for his services in the matter of the union by being made Earl of Abercorn and Lord Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick.

He died on 23 March 1618 and was buried on 29 April 1618 at Abbey Church, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

He married Marion, daughter of Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd, and left ten children:

• Lady Anne Hamilton (1592–1620), married Hugh Sempill, 5th Lord Sempill and had issue
• Lady Isobel Hamilton (1600-27 Nov. 1620), married Robert Hamilton of Barncleugh and Torrens and had issue
  • Lady Annabella Hamilton (1615-1645), married Dugald Campbell, Reverend of Letterkenny and had issue
    • Lady Mary Margaret Campbell, married Manus O'Donnell (ancestor of the O'Donnell from Spain and Austria)
• James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Abercorn (c. 1604 – c. 1670), created Lord Hamilton, Baron of Strabane in the Peerage of Ireland in his father's lifetime.
• Sir William Hamilton, 1st Baronet (c. 1605–1680)
• Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane (c. 1606–1638)
• Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet (c. 1607–1679)
• Lady Lucy Hamilton (b. bef. 1618), a marriage was arranged for her with Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim, but the wedding never took place
• Sir Alexander Hamilton (d. bef. 4 May 1669), married and had issue:
  • James Hamilton (1642-1717), the Count Palatine's of the Rhine Privy councillor, Chamberlain and Envoy Extraordinary to the court of James II of England, was created 1695 Reichsgraf Jakob von Hamilton, became 1698 Lord of Neuburg am Inn, had issue:
    • Count Julius von Hamilton zu Neuburg (1685-1759), Privy councillor to Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, sold Neuburg in 1719, married and had issue
      • Count Maximilian von Hamilton (1714-1776), Prince-Bishop of Olomouc
      • Count Nikolaus von Hamilton (1715-1765), Privy councillor, 1749 - 1764 Governor of Trieste and Fiume, 1764 - 1765 Landeshauptmann of Moravia
• Lady Margaret Hamilton (d. c. 4 May 1642), married Sir William Cuninghame of Caprington

His heirs, Earls of Abercorn, heirs male of the Hamilton family from 1651, became Marquesses of Abercorn in 1790, and Dukes of Abercorn in 1868; the 2nd Duke of Abercorn (b. 1838) being a prominent Unionist politician and chairman of the British South Africa Company. The present Dukes are descended from his fourth son, Sir George, the issue of the three elder being extinct.