(1703 - 43), e. s. of 4th D. of Hamilton; sty. M. of Clydesdale - 1712 when suc. fa. as 5th D.; Ch.Ch. Oxf. 1718; KT [J] 1723; KT 1726; FRS 1736; m. 1 1723 Anne Cochrane (d. 1724), 2 1727 Elizabeth Strangways (d. 1729), 3 1737 Anne Spencer.
1729 Venice (Feb.), Parma (Mar.), Rome (1 - 21 Apr.), Naples (22 - 26 Apr.), Rome (27 Apr. - 9 May), Florence, Parma
The 5th Duke of Hamilton was said to have been abroad on a grand tour in September 1719, but he was not then recorded in Italy.1
In 1729 he made a brief tour of Italy. He was in Venice for the Carnival at the beginning of the year, indulging his love of opera (he had been a Director of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1727 - 8). The librettos of three operas which he must have attended in Venice remain in the Hamilton archives: Porpora's Semiramide, and the anonymous Vespetta e Pimpinone and Teba.1 A pastel portrait by Rosalba Carriera, identified as the 5th Duke of Hamilton, further confirms his visit to Venice.2 Hamilton appears next to have gone to Parma. A fourth libretto in the Hamilton archives, for Giacomelli's Lucio Papirio, suggests Hamilton attended its performance in the 'spring' of 1729 at Parma, and a production of Adelaide performed in Parma during the Carnival early in 1729 was dedicated to the Duke.1 He arrived in Rome with a Mr Glanville and a Mr Maule (possibly Captain Maule) on 1 April. Stosch reported that the Duke visited the Pretender after dark disguised as an Abb?. By 21 April they had left for a brief visit to Naples, to return to Rome six days later. Hamilton had intended to leave immediately for Florence and Parma, but he stayed on, apparently to meet Lord Jersey (who had also been in Naples). Hamilton finally left on 9 May for Florence, where the Grand Duke (who had known his father) had extended a personal invitation. After his departure Stosch, already aggrieved by Hamilton's political behaviour, reported that he had tried to leave Rome without settling his debts, conduct which had 'beaucoup scandalis? La Noblesse Romaine et Angloise'.3
1. Gibson 1989, 98. 2. Sani 1988, no.282. 3. SP 85/16, ff.521, 526, 530, 534, 536, 538 (Walton, 7, 21, 28 Apr.; 5, 12, 19 May).