Scottish Clan Book - Hamilton

It was because of his loyal service to the great warrior king Robert the Bruce that Sir Gilbert Hamilton, one of the seven trusted knights and doughty warriors who had formed the Royal Bodyguard at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, was granted the lands of Kinneil, above the Forth between Grangemouth and Bo’ness.

Further honours followed, including the award of lands in Lanarkshire, where they built Hamilton Palace, while in a later century they were granted the French Dukedom of Chatelherault, from which one of their Lanarkshire estates took its name.

Deeply embroiled in the turbulence of Scottish affairs for centuries, their name features prominently in the historical record, and one indication of the high regard in which they were held is that in 1660 King Charles 11 granted them the titles of Duke of Hamilton, Marquis of Clydesdale, Earl of Arran, Lanark and Selkirk.

The colourful and stirring tale of the Hamiltons is recounted here.