Virginia and Virginians eminent Virginians, executives of the colony of Virginia from Sir Thomas Smyth to Lord Dunmore. Executives of the state of Virginia, from Patrick Henry to Fitzhugh Lee. Sketches of Gens. Ambrose Powel Hill, Robert E. Lee, Thos. Jonathan Jackson, Commodore Maury |
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EARL OF ORKNEY. |
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EARL OF ORKNEY.
George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, a member of a distinguished
family, was appointed Governor-in-chief of Virginia in 1697, and enjoyed
it as a pensionary sinecure for forty years, all the while residing
in England, and out of the annual salary of £2,000 receiving £1,200.
George Hamilton entered the army in his youth, was made a colonel in
1689, and, in 1695, was created Earl of Orkney, in consideration
of his gallantry. He was present at the battles of the Boyne, Athlone,
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was a great favorite with King William the Third. In the first year
of Queen Anne's reign he was made a major-general, and shortly
afterwards a Knight of the Thistle, serving with distinction in all
the wars of her reign. As one of the sixteen peers of Scotland, he
was a member of the House of Lords for many years. He married,
in 1695, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, Knight, (Maid
of Honor to Queen Mary,) sister of Edward, Earl of Jersey, by whom
he had issue three daughters: Lady Anne, who married the Earl
of Inchequin; Lady Frances, who married Sir Thomas Sanderson
(brother to the Earl of Scarborough), and Lady Harriet, who married
the Earl of Orrery. He died January 29, 1737, and, on September 6
of that year, was succeeded as Governor-in-chief of Virginia by the
Earl of Albemarle. The nephew of the Earl of Orkney, the celebrated
Sir William Hamilton, the husband of the famous beauty,
Lady Emma Hamilton, whose name is connected with that of the
heroic Lord Nelson, of the Nile, was, in 1772, an unsuccessful applicant
for the resident governorship of Virginia.
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