Hon. George Hamilton, on 4 March 1792. She was granted a Royal Warrant of Precedence on 27 October 1789 to assume the precedence of an earl's daughter, through his influence with Pitt; Sir Nathaniel Wraxall suggests that she was Hamilton's mistress before the death of his first wife, and that George III was very reluctant to make out the warrant. They had one child: Lady Cecil Frances Hamilton (19 July 1795 – 7 July 1860), married William Howard, 4th Earl of Wicklow and had issue. He was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland on 7 February 1794. Most of the Abercorn lands were in Ireland, and the Marquess made great efforts to build a voting bloc in the Irish Parliament from County Donegal and County Tyrone, although with relatively little success. He was criticised for being a harsh landlord, and in 1805 he unsuccessfully tried to have a High Court judge who had raised the issue removed from the Bench; the judge's conduct was reckless in the extreme, as Abercorn has been called "the last man who could be attacked with impunity". His marriage to Lady Cecil was not a success; they separated in 1798 and were divorced by Act of Parliament in April 1799. The next month, she married Joseph Copley, the brother of Abercorn's first wife. Abercorn married Lady Anne Jane Gore (1763–1827), daughter of Arthur Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran, on 3 April 1800. He was invested as a Knight of the Garter on 17 January 1805. George W. E. Russell provided the following sketch of his aristocratic character:This admirable nobleman always went out shooting in his Blue Ribbon, and required his housemaids to wear white kid gloves when they made his bed. Before he married his first cousin, Miss Cecil Hamilton, he induced the Crown to confer on her the titular rank of an Earl's daughter, that he might not marry beneath his position; and, when he discovered that she contemplated eloping, he sent a message begging her to take the family coach, as it ought never to be said that Lady Abercorn left her husband's roof in a hack chaise. Lord Abercorn died on 27 January 1818 at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, and was buried on 5 February at Stanmore. His titles passed to his grandson, James Hamilton. Notes and references - AB-ADAM to BASING External links Abercorn papers 1756 births 1818 deaths Alumni of