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This richly illustrated talk begins by exploring the important acquisitions of the 11th Duke of Hamilton and his wife, Princess Marie of Baden, the daughter of the adopted daughter of the Emperor Napoleon and the cousin of Napoleon III, and their completion of Scotland’s greatest powerhouse and treasure house. It moves on to examine the interests of their profligate son, the 12th Duke, who preferred to live at Easton Park in Suffolk – a house inherited by his grandfather in 1830. The 12th Duke’s enormous debts spelled the end of Hamilton Palace, but many of the remarkable items he collected still survive at Brodick Castle – the Hamiltons’ former retreat on the Isle of Arran. Dr Godfrey Evans is the Principal Curator of European Decorative Arts at National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, and a Director of the Virtual Hamilton Palace Trust.


All events in our lecture series include an opportunity to meet the guest lecturer, coffee and cakes and a special tour of the Castle.


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About the lecturer

Dr Godfrey Evans is the Principal Curator of European Decorative Arts at National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, and a Director of the Virtual Hamilton Palace Trust.

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Lauriston Castle Lecture Series

The 11th and 12th Dukes of Hamilton and Hamilton Palace: Completion and Desertion

Lauriston Castle

Sorley Maclean, Gaelic and Edinburgh

Thursday 4 October 2018, 10:30am Sorley Maclean, the greatest Gaelic poet of the twentieth century, has a deep relationship with Edinburgh. He was a student in the city, and then a...

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Lauriston Castle

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Saturday 6 October 2018, 10:30am

The House and its Neighbours West of Edinburgh

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Archived event

This is an archive page for a past event

Find out what's happening now and upcoming in our What's on section.

More info