Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Viscount Boyne

Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Viscount Boyne PC (Ire) (1642–1723) was an Irish soldier and politician. In his youth, he fought in his cousin Sir George Hamilton's regiment for the French in the Franco-Dutch War. About 1678 he obtained a commission in the Irish Army. James II appointed him to the Irish Privy Council in 1685.

During the Williamite War Hamilton fought for the Prince of Orange defending Coleraine in 1689, fighting at the Boyne in 1690, fording the Shannon at the Siege of Athlone in June 1691, and fighting at Aughrim in July. George I ennobled him in 1715.

Birth and origins
Gustavus was born in 1642, probably at Manorhamilton Castle, County Leitrim, Ireland, built by his father. He was the third son of Frederick Hamilton and Sidney Vaughan. His father was the fifth and youngest son of Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley, Scotland, and brother of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn.

Gustavus's mother was the only child and heiress of Sir John Vaughan, who had been governor of Derry. Her family was of Welsh origin.

Gustavus was named for the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus for whom his father had fought during the Thirty Years' War in Germany. Gustavus had two brothers and one sister, who are listed in his father's article.

Early life and Franco-Dutch War
Hamilton's father died in 1647 in Scotland when Hamilton was about five years old. Hamilton immatriculated at Trinity College Dublin in 1661 but seems to have abandoned his studies without obtaining a degree. In 1672 he went to France and became a captain in the regiment of Sir George Hamilton, his cousin once removed, the son of Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet, of Donalong, his first cousin (see family tree). The regiment fought for Louis XIV against the Holy Roman Empire in the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) on the upper Rhine in the battles of Sinsheim and Entzheim in 1674, as well as the battles of Turckheim, Sasbach, and Altenheim in 1675. When Sir George was killed in action at the Col de Saverne in 1676, Hamilton left and returned to Ireland.

Marriage and children
Hamilton married before 1686. His bride was Elizabeth Brooke, second daughter of Sir Henry Brooke, but eldest daughter by his second wife, Anne St George. Brooke was knight of Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, and governor of Donegal Castle but had died in 1671.

Gustavus and Elizabeth had three sons:
 * 1) Frederick (died 1715), married in 1707; predeceased his father, but his son became the 2nd Viscount.
 * 2) Gustavus of Red Wood, King's County (died 1734), MP for County Donegal
 * 3) Henry (1692–1743), MP for County Donegal

—and a daughter:
 * 1) Elizabeth, married Charles Lambart

Pre-war in Ireland
In 1677 Hamilton accompanied James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, to Oxford where he was awarded the degree of a Doctor of Civil Law by the University of Oxford. By 1678 he was a captain in the Irish Army.

Hamilton was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland on the accession of King James II of England in 1685.

In 1688 Hamilton was a major in William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy's regiment in Derry. On 23 November Tyrconnell ordered Mountjoy to march to Dublin for embarking to England. Mountjoy appointed Robert Lundy governor of the town.

Williamite War
At the Glorious Revolution, Hamilton declared for William of Orange.

In 1689 when Richard Hamilton attacked the Protestants in the north of Ireland, Hamilton organised the defence of Coleraine, which Richard Hamilton reached on 27 March, and resisted five weeks before retreating to Derry.

James called a parliament, known as the Patriot Parliament, which met on 7 May 1689. Hamilton's was one of the 2,470 names on a bill of attainder passed by the parliament. On 18 July the parliament was prorogued. In August Schomberg landed at Bangor.



Hamilton commanded a regiment at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690, when his horse was shot under him and he was almost killed.

In June 1691 he fought at the Siege of Athlone under Ginkel, and on 30 June Hamilton took part in the daring attack over a ford on the River Shannon that captured the town. In this attack he commanded the cavalry together with General Thomas Tollemache, while the infantry was commanded by Mackay, Tettau, Monceau de la Melonière and the Prince of Hesse.

In July he fought at the Battle of Aughrim. Ginkel organised his army into four divisions numbered from the north to the south and in two lines. Gustavus with his regiment was in the front line of the second division, i.e. a centre-right position.

Vice-admiral of Ulster
In 1691 Hamilton was appointed Vice-Admiral of Ulster, an honorary position, which he held until 1710 when he passed it on to his son Frederick. It reverted to him on Frederick's untimely death on 10 December 1715. Hamilton, therefore, was Vice-Admiral of Ulster again from 1716 until his death in 1723.

He was preceded in this office by a certain Gorges, who was appointed in 1666 and whose first name is not known. He was succeeded by Henry Conyngham, who was Vice Admiral of Ulster from 1748 to 1779..

Irish MP

 * 1) Hamilton was elected on 22 September 1692 as one of the two MPs for County Donegal in the 1st Irish Parliament of William III and Mary II (5 October 1692 to 26 June 1693). He gave Rosguill, County Donegal, as his residence.
 * 2) Hamilton was re-elected to his seat for County Donegal at the general election for the 2nd Irish Parliament of King William III (27 August 1695 to 14 June 1699).
 * 3) Hamilton was again re-elected for County Donegal at the general election for the 1st Irish Parliament of Queen Anne (21 September 1703 to 6 May 1713).
 * 4) Hamilton was elected to one of the two seats for Strabane at the 1713 general election for the 2nd Irish Parliament of Queen Anne (25 November 1713 to 1 August 1714).

Later career
Hamilton was promoted brigadier general in 1696 and major general in 1704. In 1706 he resigned from his regiment and was replaced by lieutenant-colonel John Newton. In May 1710, Queen Anne appointed him to the Privy Council of Ireland.

He bought most of the manor of Stackallan in County Meath from the widow of John Osborne, and about 1715 built Stackallan House (also spelled Stackallen) between Navan and Slane on the left bank of the Boyne just north of the N51.

In 1714, at the accession of George I, Hamilton was retained on the new Irish privy council. In 1715 he was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Hamilton of Stackallan, in the County of Meath by King George I. On 20 August 1717, Hamilton was further honoured by the king, when he was created Viscount Boyne, in the Province of Leinster, also in the Irish Peerage. In 1719 he participated in the Capture of Vigo.

His wife died in 1721.

Death, succession, and timeline
Lord Boyne died on 16 September 1723 and was buried in the church of Stackallan. His eldest son, Frederick, having predeceased him in 1715, Boyne was succeeded by his grandson Gustavus as the 2nd Viscount Boyne.