James Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn & Family

Colonel James Hamilton

James Hamilton was buried on 7 June 1673 in Westminster Abbey "within the north monument door" presumably the north ambulatory. He has no monument or gravestone. He was the eldest son of Sir George Hamilton (a son of James, 1st Earl of Abercorn) and his wife Mary (Butler) sister of the 1st Duke of Ormond. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of the 1st Lord Colepeper. James was a colonel in the army, groom of the bedchamber to Charles II and Ranger of Hyde Park. He was killed fighting with Prince Rupert against the Dutch.

Catherine, 5th Countess of Abercorn

She was the only child of James, Lord Paisley and his wife Catherine and married as her second husband Charles, 5th Earl of Abercorn. They had a daughter who died young. Catherine was buried in the Duke of Richmond's vault in Henry VII's chapel in June 1723. Her coffin plate was seen during the investigation of the vault in the late 19th century and read:

The Rt. Honble. Catherine Countess Dowager of Abercorn, relict of Charles Earl of Abercorn, and daughter of Lord Pasly [Paisley]. Died May ye 24th 1723

James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn

He was the eldest son of Colonel James and Mary. He succeeded in 1701 as 6th Earl of Abercorn. His other titles were Baron of Abercorn, Baron Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastle and Kilpatrick in Scotland, Viscount Strabane and Baron Mountcastle in Ireland. He was buried in the Duke of Ormond's vault at the eastern end of Henry VII's chapel on 3 December 1734. His wife Elizabeth was buried with him aged 86 on 22 March 1754. She was a daughter of Sir Robert Reading and his wife Jane, Countess of Mountrath (who was buried in the Abbey in 1684). They had nine sons and five daughters.

James Hamilton 7th Earl of Abercorn

He was the eldest surviving son of James and Elizabeth and was buried with his father on 16 January 1744 aged 58. His wife Anne (Plumer) was buried on 13 August 1776 aged 86.

Elizabeth, granddaughter of the 6th Earl, was buried in the Ormond vault on 6 March 1800. She was the eldest daughter of Lord Archibald Hamilton and his third wife Lady Jane, daughter of the 6th Earl. Elizabeth married Francis Greville, 8th Lord Brooke and later Earl Brooke and Earl of Warwick and they had three sons and five daughters. Her brother Archibald was drowned in the Thames aged 17 and was buried in the north transept of the Abbey on 5 June 1744.

The names of those of the family buried in the Ormond vault were inscribed on the stone above in the late 19th century.

Further Reading  

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn