Henry Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassill

Henry Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil, PC (Ire) ( – 12 January 1675) was an Anglo-Irish peer. His family alleged that he was murdered by his wife Lady Alice Moore so that she could inherit his estate.

Biography Lord Clanbrassil was the son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil and Lady Anne Carey. On 20 June 1659 he succeeded to his father's titles. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating on 28 September 1663 with a Master of Arts. In 1666 he rebuilt the family seat of Killyleagh Castle, erecting the north tower and building a long fortified bawn in the front of the castle. Following a petition from Clanbrassil to Charles II of England for funds to help the restoration work, the King granted permission for the royal coat of arms to be placed above the door of the rebuilt castle. In February 1671 he was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland having assumed his seat in the Irish House of Lords.

Marriage In May 1667 Clanbrassil married Lady Alice Moore, daughter of Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda and Hon. Alice Spencer, daughter of William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton. The evidence that Lady Clanbrassil carried out the poisoning is circumstantial and inconclusive. However, she had the body disembowelled and quickly buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, rather than in the family plot in Bangor, County Down. Lady Clanbrassil also had the new will, which she brought with her to Dublin, quickly proved by solicitors in the city without informing her dead husband's family. Legal action was subsequently mounted by Clanbrassil's cousins against Lady Clanbrassil in an attempt to restore the original will and recover the estate; the matter was settled in February 1679.