Notes:

Lt. Hamilton died of exposure while commanding the barge of HMS "Assistance", which was caught in a snowstorm while going to look for deserters and wrecked on Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

The Assistance was 'flying the flag of Sir Charles Douglas', commender in chief of the Nova Scotia station, when a boat load of seamen deserted the ship. This was not an unsual occurence, and so Lt Hamilton, together with '12 gentlemen and one common sailor' were sent in pursuit. They all perished when the barge got stuck on a sandbar.

He had changed his name to Halyburton when he inherited the Pitcur estates.

James Halyburton's death has not been firmly established. Family histories place it around 1742-3, but his son, Colonel James Halyburton, was served as heir on 17 July 1755. When the colonel, who was himself by all accounts a rather unstable individual, died childless in 1765, Pitcur passed to his great-nephew, Hamilton Halyburton Douglas, son of the 16th Earl of Morton.

Sholto married Katherine Hamilton on 19 Nov 1758. Katherine (daughter of John (Hon) (of Haddington) Hamilton and Margaret (of Blackadder) Home) was born in 1736; died on 25 Apr 1823. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton KT FRS (1702 - October 12, 1768), was a Scottish representative peer who became president of the Royal Society (24 March 1764), and was a distinguished patron of science, and particularly of astronomy.

He graduated MA from King's College, Cambridge in 1722.[1] In 1746 he visited France, and was imprisoned in the Bastille, probably as a Jacobite.

He was living in Chiswick at the time of his death, and his widow was still payong rated there in 1775. 'Douglas conveyed the mansion with 7 a. of garden to Robert Stevenson in 1783 and the site of Turret House to William Cock, a market gardener, in 1791.'

James married Agatha Halyburton before 1731. Agatha (daughter of James (of Pitcur) Halyburton and Mary Drummond) was born about 1 Jun 1711 in Kettins, Perthshire, Scotland; died on 12 Dec 1748. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She may have been the aunt, or great-aunt of Jean Halyburton, who married James douglas, 16th of Cavers (dsp 1780)

Extract from The Scottish Nation, by William Anderson, Vol2, 1867: Pitcur was inherited by Agatha Halyburton, wife of the fourteenth earl of Morton, whose second son, the Hon. Hamilton Douglas, became possessed of it, and according to the entail, assumed the name of Halyburton. On his death in 1784, it went to his aunt, Mary, countess of Aboyne, whose second son, Colonel the Hon. Douglas Gordon, afterwards Lord Douglas Gordon Halyburton, succeeded to it, and on his death in 1841, his nephew, Lord Frederick Gordon, became the proprietor, also taking the name of Halyburton, being the lineal male heir and representative of that ancient family.

But note: Hamilton was most probably a grandson of Agatha, son of the 15th earl of Morton. His birth was in 1763, or later (he was a midshipman, so unlikly to have been any older).

John + Margaret (of Blackadder) Home. Margaret (daughter of Sir John (3rd Bt of Blackadder) Home) and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

DNA testing seems to indicate that Domini is not a son of the 13th earl.

Said to have had three sons

George married Frances Adderley before 1702. Frances (daughter of William Adderley and Sarah Adderley) was born about 1664; died about 1738. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Previously recorded as being 'of Halsgow', but this appears to have been a transcript error.

Notes:

Oldest son of David Halyburton (d. 1689) of Pitcur by Agnes Wedderburn, prob. da. of Alexander Wedderburn of Tofts and Kingennie, Forfar. m. by 1707, Catherine, da. of Sir John Hall, 1st Bt., MP [S], of Dunglass, Haddington, ld. provost of Edinburgh 1689? 91, 1692? 4, 1s. da.; ? contr. 8 Dec. 1710, Mary, da. of George Drummond of Blair Drummond, Perth., s.p. suc. fa. on reversal of outlawry 1700

The date of Halyburton's death has not been firmly established. Family histories place it around 1742? 3, but his son, Colonel James Halyburton, was served as heir on 17 July 1755. When the colonel, who was himself by all accounts a rather unstable individual, died childless in 1765, Pitcur passed to his great-nephew, Hamilton Halyburton Douglas, son of the 16th Earl of Morton.

James married Mary Drummond on 25 Aug 1709 in Kincardine By Doune, Perthshire, Scotland. Mary (daughter of George (5th of Blair, 1st of Blair-Drummond) Drummond and Elizabeth Ramsay) was born on 21 Mar 1689 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland; died on 22 Mar 1689 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was James's third wife

Thomas married Eleanor Hope in 1696. Eleanor (daughter of John (of Hopetoun) Hope and Margaret Hamilton) was born about 1677; died in 1768. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]