Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Orkney
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Elizabeth Villiers Hamilton, Countess of Orkney (c. 1657 – April 19, 1733) was the acknowledged mistress of William III, King of England from 1680 until 1695. She was a lady-in-waiting to his wife, Queen Mary II.
She was born to Colonel Sir Edward Villiers of Richmond and Frances Howard, herself the last daughter of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk. As governess to the Princesses Mary and Anne, Lady Villiers secured for her children both place and influence in the future Queen Mary's household: Elizabeth's sisters Anne and Katherine were among the maids of honour who accompanied Princess Mary to the Hague, to live as consort of her husband, then Prince William of Orange; meanwhile, her brother Edward, later created 1st Earl of Jersey, was Master of the Horse.
Three years after the wedding of William and Mary, Elizabeth became his acknowledged mistress. In 1685, Mary's father James II exploited rumors of William's infidelity in an attempt to cause a split between his daughter and her unfaithful prince. After his ascension to the English throne, William settled on her a large share of the confiscated Irish estates of the late James II. Parliament revoked this grant in 1699.
Shortly after Mary's death, William broke with Elizabeth Villiers, motivated, it is said, by his wife's expressed wishes. On November 25, 1695 Elizabeth was married to her cousin, Lord George Hamilton, fifth son of the 3rd Duke of Hamilton. He was gratified early in the next year with the titles Earl of Orkney, Viscount of Kirkwall, and Baron Dechmont. Elizabeth, newly Countess of Orkney, served her husband's interests with great skill and the marriage proved a happy one. She died in London on April 19, 1733.
Lady Orkney retained a degree of social importance in the Hanoverian era, and was hostess to both George I and George II at her estate at Cliveden, Buckinghamshire.
[edit] Further reading
- Rachel Weil, ‘Villiers [Hamilton], Elizabeth, countess of Orkney (c.1657-1733)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) - available online to those with a subscription.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "Elizabeth Hamilton Orkney, Countess of", a publication now in the public domain.
