Claud Hamilton, 4th Earl of Abercorn

Who was Claud Hamilton, 4th Earl of Abercorn?

Claud Hamilton, 4th Earl of Abercorn, PC was a Scottish and Irish peer and Jacobite, the eldest son of George Hamilton, 4th Baron Hamilton of Strabane and Elizabeth Fagan.

He came from a Roman Catholic family of landowners in County Tyrone. He succeeded his father as Baron Hamilton of Strabane in 1668. Around 1680, his father's cousin George Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Abercorn, of the Scottish branch of the family, died in Padua, and Claud succeeded him as heir-male.

A Lord of the Bedchamber to James II, he fought at the Battle of the Boyne and subsequently followed James into exile. He was attainted by the Irish parliament and deprived of his Irish barony. Returning to Ireland, he commanded a regiment of horse on the right wing at the Battle of Aughrim. Tyrconnel sent him back to France to carry news of the battle to James, but his ship was intercepted by a Dutch man-of-war off Brest and Abercorn was killed in the fight. He was succeeded by his younger brother Charles.