Antoine Hamilton

Antoine Hamilton
Born	1646
Died	21 April 1720 St Germain-en-Laye
Occupation	author

Antoine (or Anthony) Hamilton (1646 – 21 April 1720) was an Irish classical author of near Scottish ancestry, who wrote in French. His literary characteristics are decidedly French.

His father was George Hamilton, younger brother of James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Abercorn, and putative 6th duke of Châtellerault in the peerage of France; and his mother was Mary Butler, sister of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. According to some authorities he was born at Drogheda, but according to the London edition of his works in 1811 his birthplace was Roscrea, Tipperary.

From the age of four until he was fourteen the boy was brought up in France, where his family had fled after the execution of Charles I. The fact that, like his father, he was a Roman Catholic, prevented his receiving the political promotion he might otherwise have expected on the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660.

Anthony Hamilton joined his brother George in exile in France in 1667, after George had refused to take the oath of supremacy. He served in the French army, particularly in the Franco-Dutch War, in a regiment recruited by George in Ireland. The marriage of his sister Elizabeth, "la belle Hamilton", to Philibert, comte de Gramont committed him more closely to France.

Hamilton appeared in a performance of Philippe Quinault's ballet, the Triomphe de l'Amour, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1681. In 1685, on the accession of James II to the British throne, Hamilton was one of a small group of Catholic professional soldiers brought in to replace Protestants purged from the officer corps of the British army in Ireland. Others were his brother Richard, who broke parole to do so; Patrick Sarsfield; and Justin McCarthy.

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