James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton

James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton, 1st Duke of Brandon, 1st Baron of Dutton, (1658 – 15 November, 1712), eldest son of William Douglas, Duke of Hamilton and his wife Anne, succeeded his mother, who resigned the dukedom to him in 1698. He was in the first cohort of James VII's royal Order of the Thistle (1687) so it is perhaps unsurprising that, considering next year's political upheaval that removed his king, and following, with accession of Queen Anne he was regarded as leader of the Scottish national party, perhaps due to very close personal links with the other royal line. He was an opponent of the union with England, but his lack of decision rendered his political conduct ineffective. As an attempt to woo him, he was created additionally Duke of Brandon in the peerage of Great Britain in 1711; and on 15 November in the following year he fought a celebrated duel with Charles Mohun, Lord Mohun, narrated in Thackeray's Esmond, in which both the principals were killed. Their seconds, George Macartney, Esq and Colonel John Hamilton, were found guilty of manslaughter.