Louisa Jane Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn (née Lady Louisa Jane Russell; 8 July 1812 – 31 March 1905) was a member of the British aristocracy. She and her husband, James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, had 13 children, and were "long remembered as the most handsome and most distinguished young couple of their generation."

Early life, marriage, and family

Lady Louisa Jane Russell was born on Wednesday, 8 July 1812, at 2 Hamilton Place, Mayfair, She was the sixth child of eight, and a second daughter for John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford and Lady Georgiana Gordon. She was the sister of Rev. Lord Wriothesley Russell, Gen. Lord Alexander Russell, Admiral Lord Edward Russell, and Lord Charles Russell and half-sister of Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford, Prime Minister John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, and Lord George Russell. She made her debut in society aged 12 and met her future husband at a children's ball. On Thursday, 25 October 1832, at Gordon Castle, in Morayshire, Scotland, Louisa married James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn, the son of James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton, and Harriet Douglas. Louisa and James had fourteen children, and she was known for her skills as a matchmaker for her children, with her choices based primarily on rank. Among her issue were seven daughters, all of whom were ordered to marry into the peerage and no one beneath the rank of an earl. Their children were: In 1881, Louisa was invested as a Lady of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert (3rd class). She was still living at the time of the birth of her great-great-grandson, the future Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, on 2 July 1903. Her other great-great-grandchildren that she lived to see were Lady Patricia Herbert, Mildred Egerton, daughter of Lady Bertha Anson, Louisa's great-granddaughter through her grandson Thomas Anson, 3rd Earl of Lichfield and Guendolen Wilkinson, daughter of Lady Beatrix Herbert, Louisa's great-granddaughter through her granddaughter Lady Beatrix Lambton.

Death

The Duchess of Abercorn died at Coates Castle, Coates, West Sussex, England on 31 March 1905, aged 92. She survived her husband by almost twenty years. She was interred on 5 April 1905, in Chenies, Buckinghamshire; she left an estate worth over £24,000.

Titles, honours, and awards

Ancestry