During the Jacobite rising of 1715 he commanded a troop of horse under Thomas Forster and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Preston. He was sentenced to death in 1716, but reprieved through the influence of his uncle Lord Orkney. His estates were forfeited, but successfully claimed by his mother, and the forfeiture was reversed in 1733.[1]
In 1734, he unsuccessfully stood as the Duke of Buccleuch's candidate for Dumfries Burghs. He advised against another Jacobite uprising in 1739. In 1741 he was returned to Parliament for Kirkcudbright, but died the following year.[3]
Personal life
In c. 1719, Hamilton was married to Isabella Mackenzie (died 1725), a daughter of Elizabeth (née Paterson) Mackenzie (a daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie of Suddie) and Col. Hon. Alexander Mackenzie (a son of Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth). Together, they had two sons and two daughters, including:[1]