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James Hamilton, 7th Earl of Abercorn

James Hamilton, 7th Earl of Abercorn FRS PC PC (Ire) (1686–1744), styled Lord Paisley from 1701 to 1734, was a Scottish and Irish nobleman and peer. An amateur scientist and musician, he published a book on magnetism in 1729 and a treatise on musical harmony in 1730, which was subsequently emended and re-issued by his teacher, Dr. Pepusch.

James Hamilton

1734–1744

22 March 1686

11 January 1744 (aged 57)
Cavendish Square, London

Anne Plumer

James, John & others

Elizabeth Reading

Early life[edit]

While James Hamilton was a young child, his father fought for King William in the Williamite War in Ireland and brought provisions to Derry just before the Siege of Derry.[5]


In 1701 the main line of the Abercorns failed when Charles Hamilton, 5th Earl of Abercorn died childless in Strabane, Ireland.[6] Charles's nearest living male relative was Hamilton's father, Charles's second cousin (see Family tree). His father therefore succeeded as the 6th Earl of Abercorn, and Hamilton, aged 15, became the new Earl's heir apparent with the courtesy title of Lord Paisley.[7] At the same time as Earl of Abercorn in Scotland, his father succeeded as the 7th Baron of Strabane in Ireland. About six months later, on 2 December 1701, his father, Lord Abercorn, was rewarded with the new Irish titles. The King advanced him from Baron Strabane to Viscount Strabane and gave him the additional subsidiary title of Baron Mountcastle.[8]