Sir John Hamilton, 4th of Cadzow

SIR JOHN HAMILTON OF CADZOW

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Hamilton_of_Cadzow

Sir John Hamilton of Cadzow, 4th Laird of Cadzow (b. bef. 1370 – d. c. 1402) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier.

He succeeded his father, David Hamilton of Cadzow, no later than 1392, when he appears on a charter of Andrew Murray of Touchadam as Dominus de Cadzow.

He was imprisoned, along with his brothers William and Andrew, in Norwich, in 1396. Richard II of England ordered their release from the Mayor and bailies of that city on 29 June. It appears that their imprisonment was due to violations of the truce between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. A John Hamilton, either his brother John Hamilton of Bardowie, or uncle, John Hamilton of Fingalton was released from the Tower of London on the same date. Hamilton and his uncle seem to have found themselves guests of the English again, when at a meeting of Border commissioners at Hawdenstank, on 28 October 1398, the first point of business was the release of Hamilton of Cadzow, and Hamilton of Fingalton and others in their entourage. The Hamiltons had been caught at sea by English privateers, again in violation of the truce. The English were urged to release the ship and restore their goods to them, or alternatively pay suitable recompense.

There is no record of Hamilton's death, though it is possible that he was one of the prisoner fatalities at the Battle of Homildon Hill in 1402, where a Sir John Hamilton, elder, appears on a list of captives.

Marriage and Issue

John Hamilton married Janet or Jacoba Douglas, prior to 1388. By her he had three sons:

1. James Hamilton of Cadzow
2. David Hamilton of Dalserf
3. Walter Hamilton of Raploch
4. Catherine Hamilton of Cadzow

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Research notes

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hamilton-1087

Note that different unauthoritative sources list his offspring differently. The 2003 edition of Burke's (1) list the following:

James
Elizabeth
Mary

and (illegitimate):

Walter
Thomas

whereas Anderson (2) lists:

James
David
Thomas
Catherine

and Hamilton (3) lists:

James
David
Walter
Catherine

Hamilton argues "On 20 May 1441, Sir James of Hamilton. Kt, Lord of Cadzow. granted to his cousin, ,James of Hamilton. son of the late Walter· of Hamilton. the lands of Raploche. (Witnesses: John of Hamilton and Gawaine of Hamilton brothers of the grantor, Arthur of Hamilton. Alexander of Hamilton and Thomas of Hamilton of Neilsland. This charter indicates, by its stated relationship of Sir James Hamilton to the grantee that the founder of the Raploch branch of the family was Walter Hamilton.

In relation to his reported first son however, as a result of extensive genetic genealogy research carried out by the Hamilton Surname Project, it has now been shown that contrary to popular belief John, the 4th Baron of Cadzow cannot have been the father of James (5th Baron of Cadzow).

Genetic testing of numerous descendants of James has shown that he carried a particular genetic marker on his Y chromosome. This marker, an SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism), is designated L-1237.

Similar testing involving descendants of John (ie James' half brothers) as well as descendants of John's non-lineal ancestors (uncles etc) has indicated that all of these males carry the SNP L-338.

This is further explained in the following extract (4):

Until a few years ago it was thought that James Hamilton (the 5th of Cadzow) was the son of John Hamilton the 4th of Cadzow but through the marvels of genetic testing it is now quite clear that this just cannot be. Who the actual father was is still a mystery but his genetic “finger-print” is known and the search goes on.

Two papers have been combined into one on the Internet and are highly recommended for anyone interested in exploring this mystery. One of the papers also gives an excellent account of the politics of the time providing an essential background to the emergence of this branch of the family.

Clearly James Hamilton was not a Hamilton in terms of bloodline but then what is a “Hamilton”. The first of the line to consistently use the surname Hamilton was David Hamilton around 1381:

He was the first of the family recorded as formally using the name Hamilton, appearing in a writ of 1375 as "David de Hamylton, son and heir of David fitz Walter", in 1378 he is styled as David de Hamilton and in 1381 as David Hamilton, Lord of Cadzow. (1).

So there is the first officially recorded Hamilton of the line in 1381, only a few years before the birth of James. Prior to that surnames thought to have been used by the male line of family include de Hamilton, fitz Walter, fitz Gilbert, Beaumont, Audemar, Harcourt, Sachsen and even Frithuwald. What is important is the blood-line because at that time the legitimacy of the birth radically affected the right and ability to inherit titles and property so the subterfuge successfully conducted by Janet and her entourage has had a long lasting effect on the family and its fortunes.

What the genetics also tell us is that the father of James and his step-father (John) shared a common ancestor possibly 2,000 years ago and he lived somewhere in what is now North Western Germany.

References

1. http://www.thepeerage.com/p2483.htm#i24827
2. Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the Branches of the House of Hamilton, John Anderson, Edinburgh, 1825. p 49.
3. A History of the House of Hamilton, George Hamilton, J. Skinner and Co., Edinburgh. 1933 p 6.
4. The Maymore Hamiltons and Related Families, J. Leslie Hamilton, (2013 edition), Private Publication. p 9.
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hamilton_of_Cadzow
6. http://www.isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_YDNA_SNP_IndexSource.html
7. The Hamilton Surname genetic genealogy project site: 1.
8. http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/g/a/gah4/HamDNA/GrpA.html
9. Wikitree - <“Hamilton DNA notes”>
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hamilton_of_Cadzow Cites
    1. Burke's Peerage, 1938 Edition, 59
    2. Balfour Paul, Sir James, The Scots Peerage Vol IV. Edinburgh 1907. Page 346. < Archive.Org >
    3. Anderson, John, Historical and genealogical memoirs of the House of Hamilton; with genealogical memoirs of the several branches of the family Edinburgh 1825 < Archive.Org >
11. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hamilton-1087 Cites
    1. Paul, James Balfour. "The Scots Peerage : founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom", Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1907, Vol. IV, Archive.org, p. 345
    2. Burke, John Bernard, "Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, Privy Council, and order of preference" , London: Burke Publishing Company, Ltd., 1925, 83rd ed., Hathitrust, p. 53
    3. Paul, James Balfour. "The Scots Peerage : founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom", Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1907, Vol. IV, Archive.org, p. 346 < Archive.Org >
12. See also:
    1. Wikipedia: John Hamilton of Cadzow
    2. Wikidata: Item Q6237474, en:Wikipedia help.gif
    3. Peerage: Sir John Hamilton, 4th of Cadzow
    4. ISOGG.org - Y-DNA SNP Source - a subpage of the SNP Index - 2006-2013
    5. The Hamilton Surname genetic genealogy project site: Results for Group A or I1-1 (Haplogroup I1a2a1a1 or I-L338) https://www.hamiltondna.com/Results.html#thr
    6. HAMILTON SURNAME DNA RESULTS AND DISCUSSION - See particularly point 8.
    7. Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the Branches of the House of Hamilton, John Anderson, Edinburgh, 1825. p 49.
    8. A History of the House of Hamilton, George Hamilton, J. Skinner and Co., Edinburgh. 1933 p 6.
    9. The Maymore Hamiltons and Related Families, J. Leslie Hamilton, (2013 edition), Private Publication. p 9.
13. https://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getpe... Cites
    1. [S474] Colquoun_Cunningham.ged, Jamie Vans.
    2. [S18] Betty and Dick Field's Family History, Richard Field.