Claud (Hamilton) Hamilton First Lord Paisley (abt. 1543 - 1621)

Ancestors Descendants

Biography

Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley was a Scottish nobleman who fought at the Battle of Langside in 1568 for Mary, Queen of Scots. He was the ancestor of the earls, marquesses and dukes of Abercorn.

Claud Hamilton, youngest son of James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran and Lady Margaret Douglas, was born about 1543^[1] He was probably baptised on 9 June 1546 in Edinburgh Castle.^[2][3] baptized 09 June 1546 at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.^[2] As a younger son, he did not inherit his father's lands or titles but rather he inherited from his uncle, Lord of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland.

By papal bull dated 05 December 1553, Pope Julius III gave him the lands of the abbey of Paisley and the office of Commendator of the Abbey of Paisley, Renfrewshire, on the resignation of his uncle John Hamilton, a natural son of the first Earl of Arran.^[2]

The papal bull states he was fourteen years old, but granting a charter 06 August 1564, with consent of his father as tutor, it's clear he was under age, so he couldn't have been born before 1543.

He also held the offices of:

• Dean of Dunbar;
• Canon of Glasgow ;
• and Prebendary of Cambuslang.^[1]

From April 1560 to February 1562 England held him hostage by the Treaty of Berwick.^[2]

Claud Hamilton aided Mary, Queen of Scots, in her escape from Loch Leven Castle with fifty men. He met Queen Mary at Queensferry on her escape and conveyed her first to Niddrie, then Claud Hamilton, signed the Hamilton bond, commanded the vanguard at Langside, and landed with the Queen at Workington on her flight to England, 16 May 1568.^[2] Consequently, he was declared a traitor, and forfeit 19 August 1568.^[2]

In June 1571 he was present at the 'Marian' Parliament in Edinburgh.^[2] He fought in the attack on Stirling and was concerned in both the murders of Regent James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray in 1570, and Regent Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox on 4 September 1571.^[2] On 23 February 1572/73 he was admitted to the Pacification, and was restored.^[2]

On 01 August 1574, he married Margaret Seton daughter of George Seton, 5th Lord Seton, and Isabel Hamilton at Niddry Castle in Scotland. The marital contract was dated 15 and 16 June 1574.^[2]

Claud Hamilton and Margaret Seton had at least nine children:^[1]

1. James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn (12 Aug 1575 - 23 Mar 1618)^[2]
2. Sir John Hamilton
3. Sir Claud Hamilton of Shawfield (d. 19 Oct 1614)
4. Sir George Hamilton of Greenlaw (d. bef 1657)
5. Margaret Hamilton (1 Sep 1577 - 23 Dec 1577)
6. Sir Frederick Hamilton (d. 31 Mar 1646 or May 1647)
7. Hon. Margaret Hamilton (b. c 1585, d. 11 Sep 1623)
8. Henry Hamilton (13 Jan 1585 - 15 Mar 1585)
9. Alexander Hamilton (Feb 1587 - 21 Nov 1587)
10. Mary Hamilton^{[citation needed]}

In 10 November 1579 the privy council decided to arrest both him and his brother, Lord John Hamilton (c. 1535–1604) (afterwards 1st Marquess of Hamilton), for past misdeeds. The title was again forfeit but the two escaped to England, where Elizabeth I used them for diplomatic games. Later, Claud lived a short time in France.^[2]

Returning to Scotland 10 December 1586, he was invested as a Privy Counsellor for Scotland.^[2] On 10 December 1585 he was restored under the Act of Restitution.^[2] He was created 1st Lord Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, on 29 July 1587.^[2]

He sought to reconcile King James VI of Scotland with his mother; he was in communication with Philip II of Spain in the interests of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Roman Catholic religion, and neither the failure of Anthony Babington's plot nor even the defeat of the Spanish Armada put an end to these intrigues.

In 1589 some of his letters were seized and from March 1589 to August 1589 he was imprisoned at Edinburgh Castle for plotting against Queen Mary and the King of Spain.^[2] Afterwards he disappeared from public life.

He suffered from severe religious madness in November 1590.^[2] His eldest son James was created Earl of Abercorn in 1606.

He died before 3 May 1621.^[2]

Research Notes

• Cokayne puts his baptismal date at 1546^[2]; however Balfour Paul notes that as he grants a charter on 6 August 1564 "with the consent of his father as tutor" he cannot have been of age at that date.^[1]Templeton-1883 17:32, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
• According to Wikipedia, "several royal marriages were proposed for" James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran, "but he eventually never married". However, WikiTree previously showed that he was married both (in 1550) to Isabel Elphinstone and (obviously much later) to Margaret Seton (who was not born until about 1551). The former supposed wife was in fact married in the same year to a different James Hamilton (third cousin of his namesake the 3rd Earl of Arran) and the latter supposed wife was in fact married to Claud Hamilton (younger brother of the 3rd Earl of Arran).
• Both Scots Peerage Vol. iv, p. 368-9 and an old but very informative version of the Dictionary of National Biography Vol. 24:173-176 discuss the 3rd Earl of Arran's marriage proposals, but do not show any actual marriages for him before his mind left.
• In the entry (in Burke's Peerage) for Lord Claud Hamilton, he is given the title of "First Baron Paisley." This is explained as being granted with the barony of Paisley on 29 July 1587. However, there is no rank of "Baron" in the Scottish Peerage; the equivalent to a Baron of the English Peerage is, in Scotland, a Lord of Parliament.
• There was a feudal barony of Paisley, but that was incorporated into the Lordship of Paisley which was returned to Lord Claud in 1585 (as it had been returned before in 1573 with the revocation of his previous forfeiture), and was confirmed in the charter of 29 July 1587. (Prior to the turbulence of the religious wars, as the Commendator of Paisley, (lay Abbot of Paisley), he had been addressed as the Lord of Paisley, as had been his predecessor, his uncle, whose own predecessors in the Abbey had held Paisley as a Lordship - (that is as a unification of a barony with one or more baronies or with other substantial landholdings.)
• There was also the separate barony of the Burgh of Paisley that, together with the Regality of the Burgh of Paisley, was united with the Lordship of Paisley in 1587 and then confirmed by the charter of 22 March 1591/2 which granted to Lord Claud Hamilton, Lord of Paisley, the title and honors of a free baron and Lord of Parliament. He then became Lord Paisley, an hereditary peerage title, in addition to being Lord of Paisley, his feudal title.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} The Scots Peerage; Balfour Paul; Volume 1; pages 37-45; accessed 1 April 2024
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18} : G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, ed. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959) Vol. X, [https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/57180/?offset=&return=1#page=301&viewer=picture&o=search&n=0&q=paisley pp. 289-292.
3. ↑ Hamilton, George, "House of Hamilton", Edinburgh: James Skinner & Co., 1933, p. 31 [not available online in the UK]
4. ↑ Burke's Peerage of England, Scotland..., cited in "Greer Ancestry"

See also:

• The Peerage #i109519
• Wikipedia:Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley
• Wikidata: Item Q3679786, en:Wikipedia
• Richardson, Douglas: Magna Carta Ancestry (2011), 4 vols, Volume 2, page 404, HOUSTON 13ii.
• Richardson, Douglas: Plantagenet Ancestry (2010), 3 vols, Volume 2, page 262, HOUSTON 14ii.
• Marlyn Lewis Our Royal Titled Noble and Commoner Ancestors.
• Michael Dwayne Hamilton Family Tree on Ancestry.com