Dance Hamilton House 2745

Reliable sources intimate that “Hamilton House” is supposed to have been devised by the staff and, possibly, the tenantry on the Hamilton estates as a humorous depiction of the eighth Duke of Hamilton and his duchess. Indeed, the figures of the dance would seem to give support to this theory!

Douglas, 8th Duke of Hamilton, son of Elizabeth Gunning, the “Double Duchess”, was born on 24 July, 1756, and he succeeded his brother, James George, 7th Duke, in 1769. (See “The Duke of Hamilton’s Reel”) On 5 Apri, 1778, he married Elizabeth Anne, daughter of Peter Burrell of Beckenham, Kent. In 1794 the duchess divorced the duke and he died four years later. On 19 August, 1800, a year after the duke’s death, she married, as third wife, Henry Cecil, 10th Earl of Exeter (1754–1804), who was created first marquess in 1801.

The Earl of Exeter would seem to have had his marital adventures also. His first marriage, to Emma Vernon, ended in divorce in 1791. On 3 October, 1791, that very same year, he married Sarah Higgins.

A generation later, during the reign of Victoria, divorce and re-marriage among the Peers of the Realm would have been considered the height, or depth, of immorality. However, this took place when the social mores were dictated by Victoria’s uncle, George IV, when Prince of Wales, a man who was not known for his puritanical behavior.

“Hamilton House” would seem to refer to the “family” of the Dukes of Hamilton, the word “house” and “family” being interchangeable.

Hamilton Palace was built between 1822 and 1829 by Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton. This vast and princely palace of the Hamiltons survived only one hundred years for it was torn down in 1927.

The old residence of the Hamiltons, however, is mentioned in James Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson in the entry for 9 November, 1773. “I wished to have shown Dr. Johnson the Duke of Hamilton’s house, commonly called the Palace of Hamilton, which is close by the town. It is an object which, having been pointed out to me as a splendid edifice from my earliest years, in travelling between Auchinleck and Edinburgh, has still great grandeur in my imagination. My friend consented to stop and view the outside of it, but he could not be persuaded to go in …” Old Hamilton Palace, a rambling building of stone set in extensive parks and gardend, has also been demolished.