Also 1st Earl of Selkirk

William (3rd Duke of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton was born 24 DEC 1634, and died 18 APR 1694. He was the son of William, 1st Marquess of Douglas and Mary (of Huntly) Gordon.

He married Anne (Duchess of Hamilton) Hamilton, daughter of James (1st Duke of Hamilton) Hamilton and Mary Feilding. She was born 24 DEC 1632, and died 17 OCT 1716.
	Children of William (3rd Duke of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton and Anne (Duchess of Hamilton) Hamilton are:   i. James (4th Duke of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton was born 11 APR 1658, and died 15 NOV 1712 in Hyde Park, London. He married Anne Sunderland BEF. 5 JAN 1686/87. He married Elizabeth Gerard 17 JUL 1698, daughter of Digby 5th Lord Gerard.   ii. William Douglas-Hamilton.   iii. Charles (2nd Earl of Selkirk) Douglas-Hamilton was born 3 FEB 1661/62, and died 13 MAR 1738/39 in dsp.   iv. John (3rd Earl of Selkirk) Douglas-Hamilton was born 1665, and died 3 DEC 1744. He married Anne (of Cassillis) Kennedy BEF. 26 JUN 1694, daughter of John (7th Earl of Cassillis) Kennedy and Susan (of Hamilton) Hamilton. He married Elizabeth (of Owthorpe) Hutchinson 1701, daughter of Charles (of Owthorpe MP) Hutchinson.   v. Basil Lord Hamilton was born 16 DEC 1671, and died 25 AUG 1701. He married Mary (of Baldoon) Dunbar, daughter of David Dunbar and Eleanor (of Eglingtoun) Montgomerie. She was born 1677.  Their son, Dunbar, succeeded as 4th Earl of Selkirk.   vi. George (1st Earl of Orkney) Hamilton died 29 JAN 1736/37. He married Elizabeth Villiers 25 NOV 1695, daughter of Edward (Sir) Villiers and Frances (of Suffolk) Howard. She died 19 APR 1733.   vii. Archibald (Capt MP) Douglas-Hamilton was born 1673, and died 5 APR 1754. He married Jane (of Abercorn) Hamilton 29 SEP 1719, daughter of James (6th Earl of Abercorn) Hamilton and Elizabeth Reading.   viii. Mary Douglas-Hamilton.   ix. Catherine (of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton died 11 JAN 1706/07. She married John (1st Duke of Atholl) Murray 24 MAY 1683, son of John (1st Marquess of Atholl) Murray and Amelia Sophia Stanley. He was born 24 FEB 1658/59, and died 14 NOV 1724.   x. Susannah (of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton. She married John (2nd Earl of Dundonald) Cochrane, son of William Lord Cochrane and Catherine (of Cassillis) Kennedy.   xi. Margaret (of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton died 6 DEC 1731. She married James (4th Earl of Panmure) Maule 5 FEB 1686/87, son of George (2nd Earl of Panmure) Maule and Jean (of Loudoun) Campbell. He was born ABT. 1658, and died 22 APR 1723.

Neither James, 1st Duke of Hamilton, nor his brother, William, 2nd Duke, left any male heirs, so the titles and estates of the family were transferred to Duchess Anne, the daughter of the 1st Duke. She married Lord William Douglas, who, at the restoration of the monarchy, was created Duke of Hamilton for the duration of his life. 

King James appointed him a privy counsellor and a Commissioner of the Treasury. However, he refused to support the dispensing power claimed by the King, and, upon the arrival of the Prince of Orange, he headed the delegation of Scottish noblemen and gentlemen who waited upon William at Whitehall. 

He was selected to be the leader of the Whig party and, after a keen contest, was elected President of the Convention at Edinburgh in 1689. The Convention declared that James had forfeited the throne, and, after the Convention was formed into a Parliament, Hamilton was appointed President of the Council and Lord High Admiral of Scotland and, in 1693, Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament.

William died in 1694 and was succeeded by his eldest son, James, 4th Duke of Hamilton, who was born in 1658.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/hamiltonweb2000/_private/HAMILTONHX.HTM 

• Birth: 24 DEC 1634
• Death: 18 APR 1694

Father: William (1st Marquess of Douglas) Douglas b: 1589
Mother: Mary (of Huntly) Gordon b: 1610

Marriage 1 Anne (Duchess of Hamilton) Hamilton b: 24 DEC 1632

1. James (4th Duke of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton b: 11 APR 1658
2. William Douglas-Hamilton
3. Charles (2nd Earl of Selkirk) Douglas-Hamilton b: 3 FEB 1661/62
4. John (3rd Earl of Selkirk) Douglas-Hamilton b: 1665
5. Basil Lord Hamilton b: 16 DEC 1671
6. George (1st Earl of Orkney) Hamilton
7. Archibald (Capt MP) Douglas-Hamilton b: 1673
8. Mary Douglas-Hamilton
9. Catherine (of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton
10. Susannah (of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton
11. Margaret (of Hamilton) Douglas-Hamilton

William, 2nd duke of Hamilton (1616-1651),succeeded to the dukedom on his brother's execution in 1649. He was created earl of Lanark in 1639, and in the next year became secretary of state in Scotland. Arrested at Oxford by the king's orders in 1643 for "concurrence" with Hamilton, he effected his escape and was temporarily reconciled with the Presbyterian party. He was sent by the Scottish committee of estates to treat with Charles I. at Newcastle in 1646, when he sought in vain to persuade the king to consent to the establishment of Presbyterianism in England. On the 26th of September 1647 he signed on behalf of the Scots the treaty with Charles known as the "Engagement" at Carisbrooke Castle, and helped to organize the second Civil War. In 1648 he fled to Holland, his succession in the next year to his brother's dukedom making him an important personage among the Royalist exiles. he returned to Scotland with Prince Charles in 1650, but, finding a reconciliation with Argyll impossible, he refused to prejudice Charles's cause by pushing his claims, and lived in retirement chiefly until the Scottish invasion of England, when he acted as colonel of a body of his dependants. He died on the 12th of September 1651 from the effects of wounds received at Worcester. He left no male heirs, and the title devolved on the 1st duke's eldest surviving daughter Anne, duchess of Hamilton in her own right.

     Anne married in 1656 William Douglas, earl of Selkirk (1635-1694) who was created duke of Hamilton in 1660 on his wife's petition, receiving also several of the other Hamilton peerages, but for his life only. The Hamilton estates had been declared forfeit by Cromwell, and he himself had been fined £1000. He supported Lauderdale in the early stages of his Scottish policy, in which he adopted a moderate attitude towards the Presbyterians, but the two were soon alienated, through the influence of the countess of Dysart, according to Gilbert Burnet, who spent much time at Hamilton Palace in arranging the Hamilton papers. With other Scottish noblemen who resisted Lauderdale's measures Hamilton was twice summoned to London to present his case at court, but without obtaining any result. he was dismissed from the council ill 1676, and on a subsequent visit to London Charles refused to receive him. On the accession of James II, he received numerous honours, but he was one of the first to enter into communication with the prince of Orange. He presided over the convention of Edinburgh, summoned at his request, which offered the Scottish crown to William and Mary in March 1689. His death took place at Holyrood on the 18th of April 1694. His wife survived until 1716.

The Earl of Selkirk is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created on the 4th August 1646 and awarded to a William Douglas the younger son of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas. Since the younger William Douglas was only twelve at the time this award of the earldom (together with the subsidiary title of Lord Daer and Shortcleuch) had little to do with his specific accomplishments and a great deal to do with generally encouraging the loyalty of the Douglases to the crown.

Our William later hit the jackpot in the seventeenth century marriage game when he married Anne Hamilton in 1656. Not only was Anne Hamilton a wealthy heiress but also Duchess of Hamilton in her own right. Duke of Hamilton by virtue of this marriage, on the 20th September 1660 William was additionally created Duke of Hamilton for life and adopted the surname of Douglas-Hamilton to reflect his new status. It later occurred to William that since he was now a duke and that his eldest son would inevitably inherit that title, that his own title of Selkirk was surplus to requirements. Therefore on the 6th October 1688 William surrendered the titles of Earl of Selkirk and Lord Daer and Shortcleuch in order that they might be regranted to his second surviving son Charles.

The particularly notable feature of this recreation of the dignity of Selkirk in 1688 was the special remainder that defined the course of descent for the title. It specified that in the event of the failure of the male line by Charles or his descendants, that the title should pass to the Duke's younger sons or their heirs male. And should the lines of all the younger sons fail, then the title should pass back to the senior line of the Dukes of Hamilton, but only until such time as the reigning Duke could produce a younger son, who would then inherit and start a new line of Earls of Selkirk. (Technically what is known as a shifting limitation and afterwards generally disapproved of by the House of Lords when it was given the opportunity.)