Elizabeth Hamilton was born in Belfast, probably on 25 July 1756. (The date is usually given as 1758, but in Elizabeth Benger's biography of Hamilton [2 vol., London 1818] there are several inconsistencies that indicate the earlier date.) She was the daughter of Charles Hamilton, a Scottish merchant who had moved to Belfast, and Katherine Mackay (d. 1767), who, according to Benger, was the sister of the minister of Belfast's first dissenting congregation. Charles Hamilton died in 1759, leaving his widow with three children; in 1762, finding herself unable to care for them all, Katherine (Mackay) Hamilton sent Elizabeth to be raised by her paternal aunt, a Mrs. Marshall, who lived in Stirlingshire, Scotland, with her husband, a prosperous

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First published 17 July 2001

Citation: Perkins, Pam. "Elizabeth Hamilton". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 July 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1957, accessed 9 February 2010.]