James Hamilton (assassin)

James Hamilton
James Hamilton preparing to assassinate the Regent Moray (1835 illustration)
Died	1581
House	Clan Hamilton

James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh and Woodhouselee (died 1581) was a Scottish supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, who assassinated James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, in January 1570. He shot Moray from the steps of his uncle Archbishop John Hamilton's house in Linlithgow.

James Hamilton was a member of Hamilton family from Bothwellhaugh, a village and castle in the Clyde Valley. His father was David Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh and his mother Christian Shaw. The lands of Bothwellhaugh are still the property of the Dukes of Hamilton, but the village no longer exists.

James's mother and two brothers, Arthur, later called "of Bothwellhaugh," and James, Provost of Bothwell were also accused of the assassination. Another younger brother was David Hamilton of Monktonmains, later "of Bothwellhaugh". David was said to have been present at the death of Regent Lennox in 1571.

James Hamilton married Isobel Sinclair, the daughter of Oliver Sinclair and Katherine Bellenden, and the joint-heiress of Woodhouselee, a castle in Midlothian, a quarter-mile (400 m) northwest of Easter Howgate and 2 ¹⁄₂ miles (4.0 km) north of Penicuik in the valley of the River Esk. They had a son David and daughter Alison Hamilton. The other heiress of Woodhouselee, Alison Sinclair, married James's brother David.

James Hamilton, like most of the Hamilton family, supported Mary Queen of Scots, and fought for her against Regent Moray at the battle of Langside. Though captured, his life was spared. The seventeenth-century historian David Calderwood noted that John Knox obtained James's release. Queen Mary was forced into exile and captivity in England, while Moray, her half-brother, ruled in Scotland on behalf of her son James VI of Scotland, and began to pacify resistance loyal to Mary. The Hamiltons remained supporters of Mary.