James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn

Who was James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn?

James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn PC, was a Scottish and Irish nobleman, the eldest son of James Hamilton, 7th Earl of Abercorn and Anne Plumer. He was styled Lord Paisley from 1734 until his accession in 1744. On 22 March 1736 he was summoned to the Irish House of Lords by writ of acceleration as Baron Mountcastle.

He repurchased some of the family's ancestral lands in Scotland, which had been dissipated during their long tenure in Ireland, including the feudal barony of Duddingston in Edinburgh, and Paisley Abbey. In 1760 he commissioned Sir William Chambers to design the classical Duddingston House. He was responsible for beginning the development of the new town of Paisley in 1779, across the River Cart from the old town.

In 1756, he was sworn a Privy Counsellor of Ireland. From 1761 to 1784, he was a Tory representative peer for Scotland. Horace Walpole noted that Abercorn was exceptionally laconic.

On 24 August 1786, he was created Viscount Hamilton, in the Peerage of Great Britain. Upon his death without issue three years later, this title devolved by special remainder, with his other titles, upon his nephew John.