Escutcheon of the Hamilton baronets of West Port

The Hamilton baronetcy, of West Port, was created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1627 for the Hon. William Hamilton. He was the third son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn; after the death of Charles I of England, he represented Henrietta Maria at the papal curia, around 1660.[1] The title became either extinct or dormant on Hamilton's death, thought be circa 1670.[2]

Hamilton baronets, of West Port (1627)

1636 mission to Rome

Sir William Hamilton, a Catholic who spoke Italian, was chosen, on the death of Arthur Brett who had been intended for the mission by Sir Francis Windebank, for a diplomatic journey to the Vatican in mid-1636. With the favour of Queen Henrietta Maria, he gained the post, over a rival, William Habington. He travelled with the papal agent George Conn.[3][4][5]

Hamilton was nominally representing the Queen, but two of the issues on which he had been briefed were the standing of the Oath of Allegiance of James I of England, and the possibility of a Catholic bishop for England.[5] As well as religious and political matters, Charles I had given Hamilton some favours to ask of Pope Urban VIII, concerning the children of his sister Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia.[6] In a preliminary meeting with Cardinal Barberini, Hamilton brought up four points, including also the case of John Molle, tutor to William Cecil, 16th Baron Ros and Oliver St John in Florence in 1607, where he was detained by the Inquisition for speaking against the Catholic religion, and was still held. (Molle died in 1639.)[7]

In 1638 Hamilton reported from Rome to Windebank the rumours that Godfrey Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester, had converted to Catholicism.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Hamilton, James (d.1617)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. 1 2 Cokayne, George Edward (1902). Complete Baronetage. Vol. II. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co., Ltd. p. 322.
  3. ↑ Albion, Gordon (1935). Charles I and the court of Rome. London: Burns Oates and Washbourne Ltd. pp. 157 and note 3, 158.
  4. ↑ Quintrell, Brian. "Windebank, Sir Francis (bap. 1582, d. 1646)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29715. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. 1 2 Questier, Michael C. (19 September 2005). Newsletters from the Caroline Court, 1631-1638: Volume 26: Catholicism and the Politics of the Personal Rule. Cambridge University Press. p. 24 and note 74. ISBN 978-0-521-85407-8.
  6. ↑ Lingard, John (1838). A History of England, From The First Invasion By The Romans. Vol. IX. Baldwin and Cradock. p. 316.
  7. ↑ Chaney, Edward; Mack, Peter (1990). England and the Continental Renaissance: Essays in Honour of J.B. Trapp. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 244–247, 253–254. ISBN 978-0-85115-270-7.
  8. ↑ Cranfield, Nicholas W. S. "Goodman, Godfrey (1583–1656)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10977. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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