Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-03-04
THE IRISH HAMiLTONS.
Five Brothers who VIII Hold seats IN
the Coming Parliament.

Five Brothers Who VIII Hold Seats In
the Coming Parliament.
A London CORRESPONDENT writing to
The New York Times says: It's probab-
ly unprecedented in the parliamentary
history of any country that five broth
ers, all under so years of age, should
simultaneously sit among its lawmakers.
This will be true of the Hamiton-Aber-
corn family in the next parliament. The
recent death of the old (and first duke
of Abercorn has given the first head of
the house, the whilom marquis of Ham
ilton, n seat in the lords, where he sits
by virtue of one of his minor English
titles, just as the Scotch duke of Argyll
sits as Baron Sundridge. He is AZ years
old, decent fellow as dukes go, and
one of the principal chums as well as
official attendants of the prince of Wales.
All four of his brothers have been elected
to the house of commons-LOrd Claud,
aged AZ, for his old Liverpool seat; Lord
George, aged 40, and the present head
of the admiralty, for his old Ealing
seat, and the young Lords Frederick and
Ernest aged respectively 20 and 81, for
Manchester and Tyrone. Of course all
are tories; even if tradition and environ
ment did not account for their politics,
the fact that the family owes its ducal
dignity to Disraeli would be enough
The family has had career common
surate with its present unique distinc-
ton. Although in its various ramifica-
tons it is now considered to be either
Scotch or Irish, the Hamilton name
comes from a manor in Leicestershre,
and the original lord of Hamilton was
probably Saxon. 1t was in 1870 that
the first Hamilton, presumably a mer-
cenary soldier, blossomed out in Scot
land-under King Robert the Bruce-as
placeholder and knight. How he
came there, or what he did to earn
this distinction, nobody knows. But
this Gilbert, the founder, had quail
ties, it seems, which nobly bore trans
planting to Caledonian soil. Within
two centuries his descendants had
founded two minor strain of dignity,
which still exist-the Hamiltons of Dali
zell and the Baronetage of Hamilton
and had obtained lordship for the head
of the house. In the succeeding CEN
fury the family played great part.
They came to be earls of Arran by ar
ranging the marriage between the king
of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, and
one of these was the famous regent dur
ing the childhood of luckless Mary
Queen of Scots. In the flush of glory
succeeding this fortune younger broth
er rose to be marquis of Hamilton,
whence through the female line comes
the present dukedom of Hamilton. In
King James time that halcyon era for
canny Scots, the ancestor of the present
Abercorn branch went to Ireland, got
huge grants of land, and became an
Irish nobleman. The head of the Scotch
branch was silly enough to lose his
head in the Cromwellian troubles, but
the Irish Hamitons never lost anything
heads or property or offices. BY care
full courtiership, by shrewd marriages,
and by succession of clever business
men and politicians at the helm, they
have advanced from baron to viscount,
from viscount to earl, from earl to duke.
TheT irish possessions alone are set
down at 1851 acres, with rental
which in 1874 was stated at f45,000
and they have nearly 10000 acres else
where. As everybody knows, the
Scotch branch of the family has not
turned out wgll. But there are no
Irish Hamiltons who get drunk on race
courses or revel in debauchery which
scandalizes even continental capitals or
waste their sub lance. 1'Iey manage
to be as well liked in Ireland as it is
possible for any landlords to be; they
get pretty good rents without seeming
to Cypress their tenants; they work dill
gently at their parliamentary duties;
keep out of scandals, and maintain a
keen gaze on the main chance Lord
George is not suspected Of any desire to
set the Thames aiire. but he has made
good average official, just as Lord
Claud has made good average men,
Der, and just as the other members arc
expected to do. And, as modern aristo-
Gratis 80, this is Q good deal