In the 1900 general election, Hamilton stood successfully as Unionist candidate for Londonderry City, and three years later he became Treasurer of the Household, a post he held until the fall of Balfour's Conservative administration in 1905 [REF].
Abercorn was made the last non-royal Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick in 1922, and six years later became a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.