Duke and Duchess of Hamilton: designs for a sedan chair, 1778, executed status unknown (17)
James George Douglas, 8th Duke of Hamilton (1756-1799) was the son of James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton and Elizabeth Gunning. He succeeded his brother in 1769, who had died unmarried. He was educated at Eton College and spent his early adulthood on the continent under the care of Dr. John Moore, father of Sir John Moore of Corunna.
He married Elizabeth Burrell (1757-1837), daughter of Peter Burrell of Beckenham, Kent in April 1778. According to the Morning Post, they became acquainted at the White Conduit cricket club in the summer of 1777 where the duke was impressed by her ‘Diana-like air’ as she took the bat. The couple divorced in 1794 by Act of Parliament and the Duchess remarried a year later to Henry Cecil, Earl of Exeter. The Duke died in 1799 and the Duchess died in 1837.
It would appear that the Duke or future Duchess of Hamilton asked Robert Adam to make designs for a sedan chair in January 1778, in advance of their marriage in April. Bolton states that there was a great deal of care taken in making these designs and that it was probably executed, however, there are no known records to confirm its executed status.
The Duke of Hamilton also resided at No. 52 Portland Place from 1780-81, a property designed by Robert and James Adam.
Literature:
Morning Post, 22 January 1778; A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, 1922, pp. 107-110; Index, pp. 55, 73; G. Howat, ‘White Conduit cricket club (act. c.1785-1788)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2014, online [accessed 25 April 2024]
