Richard Hamilton, 4th Viscount Boyne

He was the younger son of Hon. Gustavus Hamilton, second of Gustavus Hamilton, 1st Viscount Boyne, and his wife Hon. Dorothea Bellew, daughter of Richard Bellew, 3rd Baron Bellew of Duleek.[2] His uncles were Frederick Hamilton and Henry Hamilton.[2] In 1772, he succeeded his older brother Frederick as viscount.[3]

Hamilton entered the Irish House of Commons in 1755 and sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Navan until 1761.[4] He was High Sheriff of Meath in 1766.[5]

Hamilton married Georgiana Bury, second daughter of William Bury and his wife Hon. Jane Moore. Her maternal grandfather was John Moore, 1st Baron Moore,[6] and her mother was the sister and heiress of Charles Moore, 1st Earl of Charleville. Together, they were the parents of seventeen children, seven sons and ten daughters, including:[6]

• Gustavus Hamilton (1749–1816), who married Martha Somerville, only daughter of Sir Quaile Somerville, 2nd Baronet, in 1773.[7]
• Charles Hamilton (1750–1794), who married Ms. Lister, daughter of Christopher Kirwan Lister, in 1785.[7]
• Jane Hamilton (b. 1751)
• John Hamilton (b. 1752)
• Dorothy Hamilton (b. 1753)
• Catherine Hamilton (1754–1795), who married Hugh Montgomery Lyons of Belhaval on 2 February 1773.[7]
• Elizabeth Hamilton (b. 1755)
• Georgiana Hamilton (b. 1756)
• Richard Hamilton (b. 1758)
• Mary-Anne Hamilton (b. 1760)
• Mary Hamilton (b. 1762)
• William Hamilton (1763–1779)
• Richard Hamilton (b. 1764)
• Barbara Hamilton (b. 1766)
• Sophia Hamilton (b. 1769), who married William John Lowe and, secondly, Rev. Bigoe Henzell, Rector of Kilwahon.[7]
• Anne Hamilton (1771–1828), who married Thomas Craven.[7]
• Richard Hamilton (b. 1774)

Hamilton died on 30 July 1789, aged 65, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his oldest son Gustavus.[3]