After her marriage, Ann managed the Hamilton estates, particularly when her husband was at court in London. She wrote account books in an italic hand, using a mixture of Arabic and Roman numerals. She made a payment to her writing teacher Mr John Queen.[3]
Her son, James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, had sided with Charles I. When he attempted to land an army on the Scottish Coast in 1639, she organised the defences, raised a cavalry troop, and "came forth with pistol which she vowed to discharge upon her son if he offered to come ashore."[1][4] A correspondent of the time, Edward Norgate, wrote, "She goeth in armour and with a pistoll by her side readie charged, and wishes him there, saying shee would burie the bullets in his bowells."[5]
The cavalry rode under a banner showing a hand repelling a prayer book with the motto For God, the King, Religion and the Covenant. This was at the time of the Battle of Berwick on 5 June 1639.[1]
^ abcdRosalind K. Marshall, "Cunningham, Anna , marchioness of Hamilton (d. 1647)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 15 Oct 2017