The Earl of Orkney
Soldier
1666 - 1737

George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, later Field Marshal and, from 1714, Governor-General of Virginia spent a part of 1700-1702 at Twickenham Park during its brief tenure by Arnold Joost Van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, between 1698 and its purchase by Thomas Vernon.

Lord Orkney had bought Cliveden in 1696. Built for the Duke of Buckingham by William Winde in the 1670s, the house was nearly new, yet he soon embarked on a fairly drastic alteration to the building. This involved the removal of the roof and top floor, and during the work the house was probably uninhabitable. This might have provoked his stay in Twickenham, the house provided by his friend Keppel.

Both Keppel and Orkney were friends of William III who had actually purchased Twickenham Park for Keppel. It was said at the time that William had raised the money for the purchase by the sale of honours: a Garter knighthood to the Duke of Newcastle and a peerage to the Duke's son-in-law, Christopher Vane.

Orkney had distinguished himself at the battle of the Boyne and, in 1702, both men went on to earn further distinction under Marlborough in the Low Countries during the War of the Spanish Succession.


further reading

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
A C B Urwin, Twicknam Parke, privately printed, 1965