Louisa Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn

Louisa Jane Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, VA (née Lady Louisa Jane Russell) (8 July 1812 – 31 March 1905) was a member of the British aristocracy. She was the sister of Prime Minister John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, and among her descendants are two British princesses (Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York) and Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Her Grace

The Duchess of Abercorn

VA
Painting of Louisa Hamilton, by Edwin Henry Landseer
Born
Lady Louisa Jane Russell

(1812-07-08)8 July 1812
London, England
Died31 March 1905(1905-03-31) (aged 92); burial 5 April 1905
Coates Castle, Coates, West Sussex, England
Burial placeChenies, Buckinghamshire
Spouse(s)
​
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(m. 1832; died 1885)​
Children
Parent(s)

Biography

She was the wife of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, and the daughter of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, by his second wife, Lady Georgiana Gordon. She was the mother of Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch, and therefore the paternal great grandmother of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and the maternal 2nd great-grandmother of Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. She was also the mother of James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn.

Early life, marriage, and family

Lady Louisa Jane Russell was born on Wednesday, 8 July 1812.[1] She was the sixth child of eight, and a second daughter for John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford and Lady Georgiana Gordon.[1][2]

On Thursday, 25 October 1832, at Gordon Castle, in Morayshire, Scotland, Louisa married James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn, the son of James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton, and Harriet Douglas. Louisa and James had fourteen children, among them seven daughters, all of whom were ordered to marry into the peerage and no one beneath the rank of an earl:

In 1881, Louisa was invested as a Lady of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert (3rd class).

Louisa was still living at the time of the birth of her great-great-grandson, the future Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, on 2 July 1903.

Death

The Duchess of Abercorn died at Coates Castle, Coates, West Sussex, England on Friday, 31 March 1905, aged 92. She survived her husband by almost twenty years.

She was interred on Wednesday, 5 April 1905, in Chenies, Buckinghamshire; she left an estate worth over £24,000.

Titles, honours, and awards
  • 8 July 1812 – 25 October 1832: The Lady Louisa Jane Russell
  • 25 October 1832 – 10 August 1868: The Most Honourable The Marchioness of Abercorn
  • 10 August 1868 – 1881: Her Grace The Duchess of Abercorn
  • 1881 – 31 October 1885: Her Grace The Duchess of Abercorn, VA
  • 31 October 1885 – 31 March 1905: Her Grace The Dowager Duchess of Abercorn

Ancestry

References
  1. G. E. Cokayne, et al., eds, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 1910-1959, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000, volume I, p. 9
  2. Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, p. 321.
  3. Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999, volume 1, p. 5.
  4. G. E. Cokayne, et al., eds, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 1910-1959, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000, volume VIII, p. 503.
  5. Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999, volume 1, p. 661.
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