James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn

James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn (30 November 1869 – 12 September 1953), styled Marquess of Hamilton between 1885 and 1913, was a British peer and Unionist politician. He was the first Governor of Northern Ireland, a post he held between 1922 and 1945.

Background and education Born in Hamilton Place, Piccadilly, London, on 30 November 1869, he was the eldest son of the 2nd Duke of Abercorn and godson of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. His mother, Lady Mary Anna, was the fourth daughter of the 1st Earl Howe. He was educated at Eton and subsequently served first in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers until 1892 when he joined the 1st Life Guards. Hamilton was later transferred as major to the North Irish Horse.

Political career In the 1900 general election, Lord 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. After serving for a time as an Opposition whip, Hamilton succeeded his father as third Duke of Abercorn in 1913. From the 1890s until the partition of Ireland he was a prominent figure in the Unionist campaign to resist Home Rule in Ireland. Abercorn urged the Apprentice Boys of Omagh in County Tyrone to "die if necessary in opposing home rule". In 1922 he was appointed governor of the newly created Northern Ireland. He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone from 1917 until his death, having previously been a Deputy Lieutenant for County Donegal. Abercorn was a popular Royal representative amongst the Unionist population in Northern Ireland, and was reappointed to the post in 1928 after completing his first term of office. In 1931, he declined the offer of the governor generalship of Canada, and three years later he was again reappointed governor for a third term. He remained in this capacity until his resignation in July 1945.

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 Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. In the latter year, he was also the recipient of an honorary degree from the Queen's University of Belfast, and received the Royal Victorian Chain in 1945, the same year he was sworn of the Privy Council.

Family and children Abercorn married Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Bingham (1869–1958), only daughter of the 4th Earl of Lucan and Lady Cecilia Catherine Gordon-Lennox (1838–1910); daughter of the 5th Duke of Richmond, at St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, on 1 November 1894. crest=Out of a ducal coronet or an oak, fructed and penetrated transversely in the main stem by a frame-saw proper, the blade inscribed with the word "Though" supporters=Two antelopes argent, armed, unguled, ducally gorged and chained or motto=Though and Sola Nobilitas Virtus (Virtue is the only nobility)