Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Scotland, as well as being head of both the House of Hamilton and the House of Douglas. The title, the town of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, and many places around the world are named after members of the Hamilton family. The ducal family's surname, originally "Hamilton", is now "Douglas-Hamilton". Since 1711, the dukedom has been held together with the Dukedom of Brandon in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the dukes since that time have been styled Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, along with several other subsidiary titles.
Overview
The titles held by the current duke of Hamilton and Brandon are:
Peerage of Scotland
16th Duke of Hamilton (created 1643) 13th Marquess of Douglas (created 1633) 16th Marquess of Clydesdale (created 1643) 23rd Earl of Angus (created 1389) 13th Earl of Angus (created 1633) 15th Earl of Lanark (created 1639) 16th Earl of Arran and Cambridge (created 1643) 13th Lord Abernethy and Jedburgh Forest (created 1633) 15th Lord Machanshyre and Polmont (created 1639) 16th Lord Aven and Innerdale (created 1643)
Peerage of Great Britain
13th Duke of Brandon, in the County of Suffolk (created 1711) 13th Baron Dutton, in the County of Chester (created 1711)
Other offices and duties
The duke of Hamilton and Brandon is the hereditary keeper of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official royal residence in Scotland, where he maintains large private quarters. He is also, as Lord Abernethy and in this respect successor to the Gaelic earls of Fife, the hereditary bearer of the Crown of Scotland, a role which the 15th duke performed at the inauguration of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, as did the 16th duke at the State Opening of Parliament, 30 June 2011. Traditionally, the duke of Hamilton enjoys the exclusive right to remove the Scottish Crown Jewels from the City of Edinburgh. He also regularly attends sittings in the Court of Lord Lyon as a hereditary assessor, sitting on the bench beside Lord Lyon.
Courtesy titles
The courtesy titles used by heirs apparent are "Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale" (the eldest son of the duke) and "Earl of Angus" (the eldest son of a marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale). No duke has had a great-grandson in direct line to the titles, but it is likely that the latter would be styled "Lord Abernethy" (the Lordship of Abernethy and Jedburgh Forest being the most senior available title).
Before the dukes succeeded to the Marquessate of Douglas and its subsidiary titles, the heirs apparent were styled initially "Earl of Arran" (which had previously been used as a courtesy title by the marquesses of Hamilton) and later "Marquess of Clydesdale" (the former style then being adopted for a grandson in direct line). The heir apparent to the Earldom of Lanark (before that title merged with the dukedom) was styled "Lord Polmont".
Multiple dukedoms
The duke of Hamilton and Brandon is one of only five British peers to hold more than one dukedom, the others being: the Prince of Wales (who is Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, and Duke of Cambridge); the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry; the Duke of Argyll (who holds two Dukedoms of Argyll); and the Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Gordon
Historically, several other peers have held multiple dukedoms, including the Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and Newcastle-under-Lyne, the Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, the Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch and the two Dukes of Queensberry and Dover and some other mainly royal dukes.