Social Victorians/People/Douglas-Hamilton Duke of Hamilton

Overview

The 12th Duke of Hamilton died in 1895, making Mary Louise (née Montagu) Douglas-Hamilton Dowager Duchess of Hamilton, but because the 13th Duke did not marry until 1901, she was still styled the Duchess of Hamilton.

Also Known As

• Family name: Douglas-Hamilton
• The family name Hamilton
• Dukes of Hamilton (Peerage of Scotland, created 1643)
  • William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton (15 July 1863 – 16 May 1895)
  • Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton (16 May 1895 – 16 March 1940)
  • Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton (16 March 1940 – 30 March 1973)
• Duchess of Hamilton
  • Mary Louise Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duchess of Hamilton (10 December 1873 – 4 December 1901; Dowager Duchess (4 December 1901 – 10 February 1934)
  • Nina Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duchess of Hamilton (4 December 1901 – 16 March 1940); Dowager Duchess (16 March 1940 – 12 January 1951)
• Related and Subsidiary Titles
  • Duke of Brandon (Great Britain peerage, created 1711)
  • Earl of Selkirk
    • William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 8th Earl of Selkirk (2 May 1886 – 16 May 1895)
    • Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 9th Earl of Selkirk (16 May 1895 – 16 March 1940)
    • George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk (16 March 1940 – 24 November 1994)
  • Marquess of Douglas
    • William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 9th Marquess of Douglas (1852 – 1863)
  • Earl of Angus
    • William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton (1845 – 1852)

• The Marquess of Hamilton is a subsidiary title to the Duke of Abercorn

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Nina Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duchess of Hamilton

Friends

• Lizzy Lind af Hageby

Organizations

William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton

• Eton College
• Christ Church, Oxford University

Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton

• Royal Navy

Nina Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duchess of Hamilton

• Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society

Timeline

1873 December 10, William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton and Lady Mary Louise Elizabeth Montagu married at Kimbolton Castle.

1882, William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton sold "the contents of Hamilton Palace, including pictures, furniture and works of art, ... at Christies in a sale lasting 17 days, raising a total of £400,000." Because of his father's spending, he did not inherit much money, relatively speaking, although in 1867 a horse he owned won the Grand National Steeplechase, gaining him both money from the prize as well as from the bookmakers.

1897 July 2, Friday, Mary Louise Douglas-Hamilton, Dowager Duchess of Hamilton (#166 in the list of people who attended ) was a guest at the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1897 July 20, Lady Mary Louise Elizabeth Douglas-Hamilton, Dowager Duchess Hamilton, and Robert Carnaby Forster married.

1901 December 4, Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton and Nina Mary Benita Poore married.

1906 June 14, Lady Mary Louise Elizabeth Montagu and James Graham married (in 1925 he became 6th Duke of Montrose).

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Mary Louise, Duchess of Hamilton in costume as Mary Hamilton, Lady in Waiting to Mary Queen of Scots. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Mary Louise Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duchess of Hamilton was dressed as Mary Hamilton in the Queen Elizabeth procession; she sat at Table 6, escorted in to supper by Prince Christian.

Lafayette's portrait of Mary Louise Elizabeth Douglas-Hamilton (née Montagu, later Forster), Duchess of Hamilton as Mary Hamilton, Lady in Waiting to Mary Queen of Scots in costume is photogravure #277 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "The Duchess of Hamilton as Mary Hamilton, Lady in Waiting to Mary Queen of Scots," with a Long S in Duchess.

The Historical Mary Hamilton

The Mary Hamilton who was Lady in Waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots is a fictional character from the 16th-century ballad "Mary Hamilton" or "The Four Marys [The Fower Maries]." The story of the narrator of the song does not match the historical record for any of the 4 Marys associated with Mary, Queen of Scots, whose ladies in waiting were Mary Seton, Mary Beaton, Mary Fleming, and Mary Livingston. In some versions of the song, the 4 Marys are Mary Seton, Mary Beaton, Mary Carmichael and the narrator, Mary Hamilton. The life of Mary Hamilton (Maria Danilovna Gamentova), Lady in Waiting to Empress Catherine II of Russia does bear some resemblances to the Mary Hamilton in the song, except that she died in 1719, not in the 16th century.

The 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which normally offers a sense of what was generally available in 1897 to those interested in that kind of research, does not include an entry on Mary Hamilton.

Newspaper Descriptions of the Costume

• She "went as Mary of Hamilton, Elizabethan period, in a splendid white costume embroidered with gold."
• "The Duchess of Hamilton, as Mary of Hamilton of the Elizabethan period, wore a robe of very beautiful white satin with old embroidery of gold, a bodice of white satin embroidered with gold and studded with pearls, a mantle cape of white épingle velvet, mancherons and revers of embroidered gold. The chemisette and sleeves were of fluted silk crepe, embroidered with gold and trimmed with pearls. Fraise and cuffs were worn round the neck. The toque was of old red velvet with pearl ornaments and feathers."
• The "Duchess of Hamilton [went dressed as] as Mary Hamilton, temp. Elizabeth."
• "DUCHESS OF HAMILTON [was dressed] as Mary of Hamilton, Elizabethan period. Robe of very beautiful white satin, with old embroidery of gold. Bodice of white satin embroidered gold and studded pearls. Mantle cape of white epingle velvet mancherons, and revers embroidered gold. Chemisette and sleeves of flute silk crepe embroidered gold and trimmed pearls. Fraise and cuffs round neck. Small cap of silver-trimmed pearls. Toquet old red velvet with pearl ornament and feather."
• "The Duchess of Hamilton appeared as 'Marie Hamilton' in white velvet ornamented with gold scroll pattern and a little velvet cap over her coiff."
• "The Duchess of Hamilton went as Mary of Hamilton, in Elizabethan days [?], all in white satin and gold embroidery."
• The Duchess of Hamilton, as "Mary of Hamilton, in white satin and gold," followed in the wake of Lady Edmonstone's Mary Queen of Scots.
• "Duchess of Hamilton (daughter of the hostess) (Mary of Hamilton, Elizabethan period), robe of white satin, with old embroidery of gold and studded pearls; mantle cape of white épinglé velvet mancherons and revers embroidered gold."
• This description accompanies a flattering line drawing of the Duchess of Hamilton in costume (Numeral 6 below the drawing, middle right, facing ¾ to her right, dress is similar to the one in the photograph, no feather fan.): "Made by Alias, 36, Soho Square. ... No. 6. THE DUCHESS OF HAMILTON, Mary of Hamilton. — White satin robe, embroidered in gold and pearls. Mantle cape of white épinglé velvet, embroidered with gold. Small cap of old red velvet, with pearls and feathers."

Commentary on Lady Hamilton's Costume

• A higher-resolution photograph of this costume can be found on the Lafayette Archive website: http://lafayette.org.uk/ham1432.html.
• This costume has many more pearls than it seems at first to have. For example, pearls have been attached at the meeting of the edges of the ruff's goffering (or fluting, which creates the cylinders that make up a ruff). Pearls are also attached in a row on the bodice and at the edges of mantle's oversleeves. Along with the gold braid, they add a three-dimensional element to the embroidery in rows, in clusters and as individuals. Her pearl necklace has three strands, possibly with a diamond circle pendant.
• This costume appears to be made up of a dress and a "mantle cape," as the London Evening Standard and The Gentlewoman call it, perhaps in the absence of knowing exactly what term to use. The dress is made up of a bodice (chemisette in the same account) and embroidered petticoat; part of the dress are the ruff ("fraise") around the neck and the sleeves that end in a ruff. The velvet mantle is fitted to her body, apparently kept closed by the crossed belt at her waist and open in the front from neckline to hem. It has embroidered satin revers (like lapels) that widen towards the bottom and short, full sleeves over the sleeves of the dress.
• We don't know what the London Evening Standard and The Gentlewoman call mean by old here: "old embroidery" and "old red velvet."
• The focal distance for the photograph is very specific and on the embroidery: the ruff on the left cuff is out of the focal field, as is the train.
• While the ruff around the neck, the sleeves and the cuffs of the bodice and the sleeves of the mantle look like they were inspired by portraits of Elizabethans, this costume is a Victorian dress with only touches of the historical, suggesting that this costume is not based on a real Elizabeth original image.
• In this costume Lady Hamilton has the kind of freedom of movement that Aesthetic dress might provide. A traditional Victorian dress would have a tight corset making the bodice rigid and very closely fitted to the torso. An Elizabethan corset would have a long, rigid busk, flattening the front of the bodice, which would also be very tightly fitted. The embroidery on Lady Hamilton's dress that begins perhaps just above the belt and makes a point on the skirt suggests the long V extending below the waist of the Elizabethan corset.
• That is, her dress is not rigid in the way Elizabethan formal dress was rigid, but neither is it rigid in the way women might be dressed at this time.
• The mantle in this costume is unique: the way the mantle doesn't meet in the front, it's fitted to her torso and held in place by the crossed element that actually looks like it's knitted or crocheted or beaded with a brooch that might be a sun. We have seen mantles with open, loose sleeves that go over the garment; what's unique is the fitted bodice of the mantle.
• Because of the ubiquity of fans in human culture, this round feather fan does not contribute to identifying anything.

Demographics

• Nationality: Anglo-Scots

Residences

• Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire
• Dungavel House, near Strathaven
• Ferne House, Dorset

Robert Carnaby Foster

• Easton Park, Wickham Market, Suffolk, England

Family

• William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton (12 March 1845 – 16 May 1895)
• Lady Mary Louise Elizabeth Montagu (27 December 1854 – 10 February 1934)

1. Lady Mary Louise Douglas-Hamilton (1 November 1884 – 21 February 1957)

• Robert Carnaby Forster ( – 23 June 1925)

• Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton and 10th Duke of Brandon (6 March 1862 – 16 March 1940)
• Nina Mary Benita Poore Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton (13 May 1878 – 12 January 1951)

1. Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton (3 February 1903 – 30 March 1973)
2. Lady Jean Douglas-Hamilton ( – 11 June 1904)
3. George Nigel Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk (4 January 1906 – 24 November 1994)
4. Lady Margaret Douglas-Hamilton (13 October 1907 – )
5. Lord Malcolm Avondale Douglas-Hamilton (12 November 1909 – 21 July 1964)
6. Lord David Douglas-Hamilton (8 November 1912 – 2 August 1944)
7. Lady Mairi Nina Douglas-Hamilton (27 August 1914 – 27 May 1927)

Relations

• Lady Mary Louise Elizabeth Montagu's mother was Luise, Duchess of Manchester, when she was born, and Louise, Duchess of Devonshire at the time of the party.

Archives and Memoirs

• Edinburgh University Library Special Collections seems to have some of the papers of the 12^th Duke of Hamilton, who was married to Lady Mary (née Montagu) Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton.

Notes and Questions

1. Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton, 6th Duchess of Montrose and daughter of 12th Duke and Duchess of Hamilton inherited much of the property that was not entailed on the Dukedom.
2. Mary, 12th Duchess of Hamilton's husband, William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, was not present at the ball because he died in 1895.