Portrait of Lord Basil Hamilton (1671-1701)

Portrait of Lord Basil Hamilton, 6th son of Anne Duchess of Hamilton.
Painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723)

The 6th son of the 3rd Duke, Lord Basil was a young man of ability and spirit (as witnessed by the story of his persistence in petitioning King William on behalf of Darien Scheme colonists imprisoned by Spain) and had an amiable disposition.

He married Mary Dunbar, daughter of David Dunbar of Baldoon, Wigton. They had four children, their second son Basil being the father of Dunbar Hamilton who succeeded to the Earldom of Selkirk on the death of his uncle, John, the 3rd Earl in 1744.

Lord Basil was drowned in the Minnock Water in Galloway, trying to rescue a servant. His brother, Charles, Earl of Selkirk, who was with him, brought the news to their mother who had had a premonition of both their deaths in a dream the night before.