Clan Hamilton
| Clan Hamilton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Crest: In a ducal cornet an oak tree fructed and penetrated transversely in the main stem by a frame saw Proper, the frame Or
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| Motto | Through | ||
| Profile | |||
| Region | Lowlands | ||
| Chief | |||
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| Alexander Douglas-Hamilton | |||
| The 16th Duke of Hamilton and the 13th Duke of Brandon |
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| Seat | Lennoxlove House | ||
| Historic seat | Hamilton Palace | ||
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The Clan Hamilton, also occasionally referred to as the House of Hamilton, is a Lowland Scottish clan.
The Hamilton chiefs descend from Walter fitz Gilbert of Hambledon who appears in a charter to the Monastery of Paisley in about 1294. His lands appear to have originally been in Renfrewshire, however, his support for Robert the Bruce rewarded him with lands in Lanarkshire and the Lothians These lands included Cadzow, which later became the town of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.
Chief among the legends still clinging to this important family is that which gives a descent from the House of Beaumont, a branch of which is stated to have held the manor of Hamilton, Leicestershire; and it is argued that the three cinquefoils of the Hamilton shield bear some resemblance to the single cinquefoils of the Beaumonts. In face of this it has been recently shown that the single cinquefoil was also borne by the Umfravilles of Northumberland, who appear to have owned a place called Hamilton in that county. It may be pointed out that Simon de Montfort, the great earl of Leicester, in whose veins flowed the blood of the Beaumonts, obtained about 1245 the wardship of Gilbert de Umfraville, second earl of Angus, and it is conceivable that this name Gilbert may somehow be responsible for the legend of the Beaumont descent, seeing that the first authentic ancestor of the Hamiltons is one Walter FitzGilbert. He first appears in 1294–1295 as one of the witnesses to a charter by James, the high steward of Scotland, to the monks of Paisley; and in 1296 his name appears in the Homage Roll as Walter FitzGilbert of "Hameldone." Who this Gilbert of "Hameldone" may have been is uncertain.
As already mentioned Walter Fitz Gilbert was rewarded with lands for his support of king Robert the Bruce. Walter's son, David, fought at the Battle of Neville's Cross for David II of Scotland in 1346. David was captured and was not released until a substantial ransom was paid.
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Wikipedia