Gustavus Hamilton
Viscount Boyne
Gustavus Hamilton, 2nd Viscount Boyne.jpg
Detail from the portrait below
Tenure1723–1746
PredecessorGustavus, 1st Viscount Boyne
SuccessorFrederick, 3rd Viscount Boyne
Born1710
Died18 April 1746
FatherFrederick Hamilton
MotherSophia Hamilton

Gustavus Hamilton, 2nd Viscount Boyne PC (Ire) (1710–1746) was an Irish politician and an enthusiastic admirer of Italy and the Carnival of Venice.

Birth and origins

Family tree
Gustavus Hamilton with parents, and other selected relatives.[lower-alpha 1] He never married.
Gustavus
1st
Viscount
1642–1723		Elizabeth
Brooke
d. 1721
Frederick
c. 1663 – 1715
d.v.p.*		Sophia
Hamilton
d. 1748		Gustavus
c. 1685 –
1735		Dorothea
Bellew
Gustavus
2nd
Viscount
1710–1746		Frederick
3rd
Viscount
1718–1772		Richard
4th
Viscount
1724–1789
Gustavus
5th
Viscount
1749–1816		Martha
Somerville
Legend
XXXSubject of
the article		XXXViscounts
Boyne
*d.v.p. = predeceased his father (decessit vita patris)
Painted portrait of a clean-shaven young man wearing a tricorne hat
Gustavus Hamilton, 2nd Viscount Boyne with a bauta masque on his ear, pastel by Rosalba Carriera about 1730.

Gustavus was born in 1710,[2] probably in Ireland. He was the eldest son of Frederick Hamilton and his wife Sophia Hamilton. His grandfather was Major-General Gustavus Hamilton who would soon become Viscount Boyne. His father was the eldest son and heir apparent but would predecease his grandfather. His paternal family was a Protestant cadet branch of the Catholic Earls of Abercorns, who in turn descended from the Scottish Clan Hamilton.

Gustavus's mother was a daughter of James Hamilton of Tollymore, near Newcastle, County Down and sister of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil. Gustavus's parents had married on 1 September 1707.[3] He was one of four siblings, who are listed in his father's article.

Honours and offices

On 20 October 1715 King George I ennobled his grandfather as Baron Stackallan. His father was from then on styled the Honourable Frederick Hamilton, being the son of a peer. His father enjoyed this honour for less than two months as he unexpectedly died on 10 December 1715. This made young Gustavus heir apparent at the age of five. After his father's death, his mother took him to London and sent him to Westminster School.[4] On 20  August 1717 his grandfather was advanced to Viscount Boyne and young Gustavus was styled Baron Hamilton of Stackallan as courtesy title. In 1723, aged 13, he succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Viscount Boyne.[5] In 1736, Boyne, as he now was, was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland. In 1737, he was appointed a commissioner of the Irish Revenue, a post that he would hold until his death in 1746.[6]

His Irish viscountcy did not disqualify him from sitting in the British House of Commons. In 1736 he won the by-election to succeeded William Fortescue in one of the two seats of Newport, Isle of Wight, of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain and sat as Member of Parliament for this constituency until the end of the parliament in 1741.

Venice

From January to March 1730, Boyne and Edward Walpole were in Venice enjoying the pleasures of the carnival. Immediately after their trip, Walpole, the younger son of Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, entered Parliament as Member for Lostwithiel in a by-election on 29 April 1730, following the death of Sir Edward Knatchbull. Boyne, however, travelled to Venice again the following winter.

In 1734, Boyne was a founder-member of the Society of Dilettanti, a group of Englishmen who had made their Grand Tour and met to discuss, and to exert their influence on, matters of taste in London. Other members of the Society included his "particular friend, the notorious rake" Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer.[7]

Death and timeline

Boyne died unmarried on 18[8] or 20 April 1746 and was buried at Stackallen. His cousin Frederick Hamilton succeeded to the viscountcy.[9]

Timeline
AgeDateEvent
01710Born in Ireland.[2]
3–41714, 1 AugAccession of King George I, succeeding Queen Anne[10]
4–51715, 20 OctGrandfather created Baron Hamilton of Stackallan.[11]
4–51715, 10 DecFather died; he became heir apparent.[12]
6–71717, 20 AugGrandfather created Viscount Boyne. He was styled Baron Hamilton of Stackallen.[13]
12–131723, 16 SepSucceeded his grandfather as 2nd Viscount Boyne.[5]
16–171727, 11 JunAccession of King George II, succeeding King George I[14]
19–201730Travels to Venice
35–361746, 18 AprDied[8][9]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ This family tree is partly derived from the Abercorn pedigree pictured in Cokayne.[1] Also see the lists of siblings and in the text.

Citations

  1. ↑ Cokayne 1910, p. 4. "Tabular pedigree of the Earls of Abercorn"
  2. 1 2 Cokayne 1912, p. 267, line 9. "He [Gustavus] was b. 1710."
  3. ↑ Burke & Burke 1909, p. 259, left column, line 21. "Frederick, m. [married] 1 September 1707, Sophia, sister of the 1st Earl of Clanbrassil and dau. [daughter] of James Hamilton, of Tollymore."
  4. ↑ Lodge 1789, p. 179, line 14. "Gustavus, the second Viscount Boyne, born in 1710, was taken by his mother to London, upon his father's decease, who placed him at Westminster-school and provided fit tutors for his instruction ..."
  5. 1 2 Debrett 1828, p. 765 line 35. "The viscount d. 16 Sept. 17123 and was succeeded by his grandson Gustavus, 2nd Viscount ..."
  6. ↑ Lodge 1789, p. 179, line 26. "In August 1736 he was sworn of the privy council; and in June 1737 appointed a commissioner of the revenue; his Lordship made his will 5 April 1746 and died unmarried 18 of that month ..."
  7. ↑ "Portrait of Gustavus Hamilton, 2nd Viscount Boyne". www.philamuseum.org. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  8. 1 2 Burke & Burke 1909, p. 259, right column, line 67. "... [Gustavus] d. [died] unm. [unmarried] 18 April, 1746 ..."
  9. 1 2 Debrett 1828, p. 765 line 37. "Gustavus, 2d viscount, b. [born] 1710, d. [died] unm. [unmarried], 20 April 1746 and was succeeded by his cousin, Frederick, 3d viscount ..."
  10. ↑ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 45, line 38. "George I … acc. 1 Aug. 1714;"
  11. ↑ Cokayne 1912, p. 266, line 34. "He was on 20 October 1715, cr. [created] Baron Hamilton of Stackallan [I. [Ireland]]."
  12. ↑ Cokayne 1912, p. 267. "...  [Frederick] d. v.p. 10  Dec. 1715."
  13. ↑ Cokayne 1912, p. 266, line 35. "... was cr. [created] on 20 Aug. 1717, Viscount Boyne in the province of Leinster [I. [Ireland]]."
  14. ↑ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 46, line 11. "George II … acc. 11 Jun. 1727;"

Sources

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