John Hamilton (abt. 1680 - 1721)

Born about 1680 in Falkirk Burgh, Stirlingshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Jannet (Jennet) Hamilton — married 1 Nov 1702 in Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Died 27 Nov 1721 at about age 41 in At Sea. Shipwreck off Lizard Point, Cornwall, England

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Biography

John Hamilton is a member of Clan Hamilton.

THIRD LORD BELHAVEN: John Hamilton son of second Lord Belhaven, John Hamilton of Biel and Margaret Hamilton who was grand daughter of first Lord Belhaven. The third Lord Belhaven drowned 17 Nov 1721 at sea.

John was born about 1700. He was the son of John Hamilton and Margaret Hamilton. He passed away in 1721. He sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1715 to 1721. The latter year he was appointed Governor of Barbados but drowned on the journey out.

By Anne, daughter of Andrew Bruce, Merchant of Edinburgh he had four sons and a daughter.

• John Hamilton
• Andrew
• James Hamilton
• Robert
• Margaret.

His eldest son John Hamilton succeeded to his father's title, becoming 4th Baron Belhaven and Stenton, and died unmarried on 28 August 1764. His next brother Andrew having died unmarried in 1736, the title was inherited by the 3rd son James Hamilton, who became 5th Baron of Belhaven and Stenton. On James's death in 1777, the line of the second Lord failed since Robert Hamilton, the youngest of the 3rd Baron's sons, had died in 1743.

Research Notes

Previously a second James had been included as a son of of John Hamilton third Lord of Belhaven and Stenton. The Peerage (for example) lists his sons as John (died 28 Aug 1764), James (died 25 Jan 1777) and Andrew (died 1736). (Wikipedia has a 4th son named Robert who died in 1743 as indicated above). There is no mention of another son James nor a marriage to Janet Jennet in 1702. Note that his wife Anne (Bruce) was still alive in 1702 and she died in 1707. There is no record of a divorce between John and Ann.

What is more important is the succession to the title upon his death in 1721. As noted on the profile it went to his first son John as the 4th Lord who died unmarried in 1764. The second son, Andrew, predeceased his brother John (in 1736) and was childless so the title went to the third son James as the 5th Lord who also died unmarried and childless in 1777. The succession to the title was then disputed as there was no other living male of that line known of to whom the title would have passed as a matter of course.

The second James is recorded as dying in 1748 but he had a son Hugh who died in 1770 who in turn had a son John who born in 1765 and died in 1839. If that line is correct then this is who would have inherited the title. The Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords eventually decided, in 1793, in favour of the title going to William Hamilton, the son of Robert Hamilton of Wishaw. This search went back to the grandfather of the first Lord and did not include a second James, son of John the third Lord or any of his descendants.

A further issue is the DNA linkage on the profile that not only goes to this profile but continues up the male line to the very earliest Hamiltons. The Y chromosome of descendants of the early Hamiltons, with well documented trees, has been extensively researched and the haplogroup of this line of Hamiltons has been determined as I and not R. The male line descendants of the second James could all well be haplogroup R which means that John (the 3rd Lord) could not have been his father of the second James (an I cannot begat an R). There is a discussion on G2G about this profile and the concensus is that James born in 1708 in Delaware, USA cannot be the second son as was previously indicated on the profile. Accordingly the second James has been removed from this profile.

Sources

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p12946.htm#i129453
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Belhaven_and_Stenton
• Burke, Sir Bernard. The Peerage and Baronetage, The Privy Council, Knightage & Companionage (1911 ed.). Harrison & Sons, 45 Pall Mall. pp. 208–209.