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Welcome to the Clan Hamilton website Clan Hamilton members are saddened by the death of the 15th Duke of Hamilton and 12th Duke of Brandon, who died on Saturday June 5, 2010 at age 71. Clan Hamilton Society Home Page

Welcome to the home page of the Clan Hamilton Society.

We invite you to learn more about the Hamiltons, our Society's activities and your Scottish heritage. Click on the left side bar links and take the complete tour through the many pages. Our site is updated very frequently, so make a bookmark and come back often.

Be sure and check out the MEMBERSHIP page. We invite you to join your fellow Hamilton Family members world wide for the many benefits of membership in the Clan Hamilton Society. 

Also check the Calendar of Events to find a Scottish Festival close to your hometown. And visit the Clan Hamilton tent at those games where we have a presence. For our members, there is always special hospitality to be found at the Clan Hamilton tent.

 

2012 Clan Hamilton Tour of Scotland

Due to overwhelming response to the tour surveys sent out in February, the Clan Hamilton Society Council has decided to go ahead with the planning for a Clan Hamilton tour in September 2012! This is very exciting news!

Planning will continue this summer with a final tour itinerary and pricing information becoming available in September.

Here is what we have so far! The tour will be a 14 day tour, arriving in Glasgow on Sunday, September 9, 2012 and departing Edinburgh on Saturday, September 22, 2012. We are working on a possible one week option for those of you not able to complete the entire two weeks.

Once we have a cost, we can begin accepting reservations. The cost will be dependant on the final itinerary.

Tentative itinerary:

Arrival in Glasgow. Our first stop may be at Paisley Abbey. In 1163 a community of Cluniac monks setup a monastery near St Mirin’s shrine. The monastery later became Paisley Abbey and was rebuilt and restored in the 14th century. We hope to also visit Paisley Museum.

We will visit Chatelherault and Cadzow Castle and Hamilton Mausoleum. Chateiherault is a restored (Hamilton) hunting lodge and Visitor Center set in a 500 acre country park. Cadzow Castle, constructed between 1500 and 1550 was once known as the castle in the woods of Hamilton.

While in Glasgow, we hope to visit St. Mungo’s Cathedral then visit Culzean Castle.

We will take a ferry to the Isle of Arran. Also known as Scotland in Miniature, Arran is one of the most southerly Scottish islands. A visit to Brodick Castle is planned as well as a visit to Isle of Arran Distillers. Brodick Castle’s gardens and country park stretch from the shore to the highest peak on Arran-simply stunning landscape. Isle of Arran Distillers is one of a few remaining distilleries in Scotland using only the traditional methods of distilling, with wooden washbacks and copper stills designed to their exact specifications.

Next we hope to ferry from Locchranza on Arran to UI aig on the Mull of Kintyre. Visit Inveraray, and then continue on to Glencoe, then finally to Oban.

We will take a ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull may possibly visit Duart Castle, then ferry to Abbey on lona. The original monastery was founded by St. Columba, who landed on lona in AD563, but destroyed in Viking raids in the ninth and tenth was also the burial place of early Scottish Kin back to Mull and then Oban.

During this trip we hope to visit Portree on the Isle of Skye, after which we would like to visit one of the most photographic sites in all of Scotland, Eilean Donan Castle.

A trip to Scotland can't be complete without a visit to Loch Ness (with a possible Nessie sighting) and the Highlands. We will visit Urquhart Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness, which remains an impressive stronghold despite it’s ruinous state. How would some shopping time in Inverness sound Ladies? Hopefully, we can add that onto the itinerary too!


While in the Highlands, we will visit Culloden Moor, and the Clava Cairns. Culloden Moor, scene of the last major battle fought on mainland Britain, is an iconic and emotive site in Scotland. The battle that took place here on 16 April 1746 ended the Jacobite chances of restoring the exiled Stuart dynasty to the throne of Britain. The Clava Cairns is a site of an exceptionally well preserved group of prehistoric burial cairns that were built around 4,000 years ago.

On our journey to Edinburgh, we hope to stop at Scone Palace, and Dunfermline Abbey. Fifteen hundred years ago, Scone Palace was the capital of the Pictish kingdom and the center of the ancient celtic church. In the intervening centuries, it has been the seat of parliaments and the crowning place of kings. It has housed the Stone of Destiny and been immortalized in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Dunfermline Abbey, whose foundation goes back to 1072, was built by King David I of Scotland in honor of his mother, the saintly Queen Margaret.

Once in Edinburgh, tour members will have an entire day at their leisure to tour Edinburgh Castle, the many museums Edinburgh has to offer, shop or possibly visit the Parliament building.

We may explore the East Lothian area with stops in Prestonpans to see the Hamilton Tower and Hamilton House, and continuing to the Borders region with a visit to Melrose Abbey, and Abbotsford. Abbotsford is the house built and lived in by Sir Walter Scott, the 19th century novelist, and author of timeless classics such as Rob Roy and Ivanhoe. Melrose Abbey is thought to be the burial place of Robert the Bruce’s heart, marked with a commemorative carved stone plaque.

Sometime during our stay in Edinburgh we would like to visit Lennoxlove, the seat of the Hamilton estate. It contains many historical items of interest including many belonging to Mary Queen of Scots, the 14th Duke’s historic first flight over Mount Everest and much, much more.

We will depart for home from Edinburgh.

 

 

Excavating a Scottish rebel’s luxurious stronghold - Cadzow Castle

From British Archaeology website 

Excavations this year at Cadzow Castle in Lanarkshire have shed light on the rise and fall of one of Scotland's great noble families of the 16th century.

Cadzow, one of the seats of the Hamilton family, was built in the 1520s or 1530s by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, a military engineer and architect who was Master of the King's Works for James V. However in 1579, during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots - while Mary was imprisoned, and the country was ruled by regents on behalf of young James VI - the Hamiltons opposed the government and their castle was besieged. It has remained a ruin ever since.

At the heart of the inner ward was a large mound, which this year's dig has revealed covers the remains of a tower house - the castle's main building. Great chunks of masonry, including doorways and the tops of walls, were found upside-down, with evidence of burning, indicating that the castle had been blown to pieces by the attacking forces. According to Peter Yeoman, of Historic Scotland which sponsored the dig, it was 'most unusual' to attempt complete demolition in such circumstances. 'This shows how determined the regent's forces were to suppress the power of the Hamiltons.'

The castle had been built fit for a king. About 800 fragments of luxurious green-glazed floor tiles were found, impressed with the letters J and M, probably representing King James V and one of his wives (either Madeleine or Mary). Identical tiles - from the same kiln, even the same firing - had been used to floor a principal chamber at the royal palace of Linlithgow some 20 miles away, where Sir James Hamilton was carrying out works. It seems likely that the noble architect appropriated any unused tiles from Linlithgow for use in his own home.

During the 18th century, Cadzow Castle was incorporated as a romantic ruin into the grounds of nearby Hamilton Palace, the main seat of the Dukes of Hamilton (whose fortunes by then had revived). However, in the mid-20th century Hamilton Palace itself became derelict when its owners could no longer afford the maintenance costs It is now the site of a trading estate and shopping mall called 'Hamilton Palace' on the outskirts of Hamilton town. 

 

 

Hamilton Family DNA Project2/24/2005

The Hamilton Genealogical Society has organized a DNA project for the male line of the Hamilton family. The DNA project uses DNA markers from the male Y chromosome (reason for males only) to trace family origins. This project can provide valuable clues to possible linkage to various families past those in documented  form. 

 

For the latest results visit site  Latest Hamilton DNA Results.

Some highlights of the current summary are the following. Results are given for over 70 participants. About two thirds of the participants can be placed in one of seven different groups (A to G) with reasonably close matches within each group. Groups A and B are the most populous with about half of all participants in one or the other of these groups. The Group D participants are all documented descendants of Alexander Hamilton, a USA founding father and first secretary of the treasury, so his DNA profile is now known. Most of the participants were not aware of any relationship to other participants so those who match others in the various groups now have new avenues to explore the derivation of their lines. Thus, I would like to encourage each of you to consider participating in the project because it may help you unravel details of your Hamilton line. 

 Most of these participants were previously unaware of the relationships that the DNA results turned up. As we obtain more results we are beginning to see relationships among several people with known ancestors from Ireland, Scotland, and the early American colonies. Thus, each of you is encouraged to consider having your Hamilton line DNA analyzed; the more participants we have, the more possibilities for finding new relationships and extending the knowledge of your Hamilton line. To make it easier to participate, the application procedure has been
simplified and streamlined; visit (Hamilton DNA Project) for details.

Check it out. And if you are a male with the Hamilton surname, consider participation in the program. The more participants that we have the better we will be able to understand the results.

Further information about the Hamilton DNA project can be found at the web site for Hamilton DNA Project.

The information on these pages has been compiled from numerous sources and is by no means complete. Your Hamilton Web Master solicits and welcomes comments or information concerning these pages.

For additional information about the Clan Hamilton Society , please contact our Clan historian:

Philip G. Dixon
Clan Hamilton Society
P.O. Box 1245
Summerville,, SC 29484-1245
 
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