James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn

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The Right Honourable
The Earl of Abercorn
Born(1712-10-22)22 October 1712
London, England
Died9 October 1789(1789-10-09) (aged 76)
Boroughbridge, England
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Parent

James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn PC (Ire) (22 October 1712 – 9 October 1789), styled Lord Paisley from 1734 to 1736, was an Anglo-Irish peer. He inherited large estates in Ireland, where he built a mansion, and re-acquired some of the family's ancestral lands in Scotland.

Biography

Duddingston House

The eldest son of

Earl of Abercorn in 1744.[3]

By the time of his succession, the family's lands in Scotland had long since been dissipated. He began to reassemble them, purchasing the feudal barony of

Horace Walpole noted that Abercorn was exceptionally laconic.[citation needed
]

Abercorn continued to repurchase old family lands in Scotland, acquiring the lordship of Paisley in 1764[3] from Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald.[4]

He also had a seat at

Witham, Essex, and built a great new house at Baronscourt in Ireland from 1779 to 1781.[4] He was responsible for beginning the development of the new town of Paisley in 1779,[3] across the River Cart
from the old town.

His principal residence was Duddingston House near Edinburgh.[6]

In the Lords, Abercorn opposed the 1766 repeal of the

Viscount Hamilton, in the Peerage of Great Britain, with a special remainder to his nephew John James
.

The

Committee for Privileges, on 13 February 1787, set a precedent by resolving that this vacated his seat as a representative peer for Scotland. Abercorn died at Boroughbridge on 9 October 1789 while travelling, and was buried at Paisley Abbey. All his titles devolved upon his nephew John James.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Cokayne 1910, p. 6.
  2. Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f Cokayne 1910, p. 7.
  4. ^ a b c Balfour Paul, p. 65
  5. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Duddingston House (105 Milton Road West), Former Stables and Office (115-127 (Odd Numbers) Milton Road West) (Category A Listed Building) (LB28065)". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  6. ^ Williamons Edinburgh Directory 1784

References

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Earl of Abercorn

1744–1789 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation
Viscount Hamilton

1786–1789 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
Viscount Strabane

1744–1789 		Succeeded by
writ in acceleration
)
1736–1789
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