William Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton

His Grace The Duke of Hamilton KG PC


Lord High Commissioner
In office 1693–1694
Monarch	William II and Mary II
Preceded by	The Earl of Melville
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Tweeddale
In office 1689–1690
Monarch	William II and Mary II
Preceded by	The Earl of Moray
Succeeded by	The Earl of Melville
Personal details
Born	23 December 1634
Died	18 April 1694(1694-04-18) (aged 59) Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland
Resting place	Hamilton Collegiate Church Hamilton Mausoleum Bent Cemetery, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Spouse(s)	Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton
Children	James, George, Archibald

William Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, KG, PC (24 December 1634 – 18 April 1694), was a Scottish nobleman and politician. Born Lord William Douglas. He was the eldest son of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas by his second wife Lady Mary Gordon, a daughter of George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly.

Subsequent to marrying Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, he was created Duke of Hamilton in the Peerage of Scotland, which also allowed him to use his wife's subsidiary titles during his lifetime and to take the name Hamilton for him and their descendents.

Lord William Douglas was created 1st Earl of Selkirk in 1646, at the age of 11. He supported the Royalist cause in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and was fined £1000, under the terms of the English Commonwealth's Act of Pardon and Grace to the People of Scotland.

On 29 April 1656, he married Anne Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton. She was from a staunchly Royalist dynasty. Her estates had been declared forfeit by Oliver Cromwell after the activities of her father and uncle in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Her father, James, 1st Duke of Hamilton, was executed by the English in 1649 at the end of the Second English Civil War, and her uncle, William, 2nd Duke of Hamilton, died following the Battle of Worcester in 1651.