Hamilton

" parl. burgh, market town, and par., Lanarkshire, near the confluence of the Avon and the Clyde, 9¾ miles SE. of Glasgow and 382 NW. of London by rail - par. (which includes part of town of Motherwell and part of town of Larkhall), 14,243 ac., pop. 26,231; parliamentary and police burgh, pop. 18,517; 6 Banks, 1 newspaper. Market-day, Friday. The original town (called Netherton) occupied a site within the Duke of Hamilton's park; the present town dates from the early part of the 15th century.

The prosperity of the place depends chiefly upon the minerals (coal, ironstone, limestone, and sandstone), which are extensively worked in the neighbourhood. Hamilton is a brigade-depot, and has an extensive range of barracks; it has also several good middle-class schools. In the immediate vicinity are large market gardens, and numerous villas of Glasgow merchants. Along with Falkirk, Airdrie, Lanark, and Linlithgow, Hamilton returns 1 member to Parliament. On the low ground between the town and the Clyde is Hamilton Palace, seat of the Duke of Hamilton (and Brandon), the premier peer of Scotland; it includes a tower of 1591, but is chiefly modern, and is one of the most magnificent edifices in the kingdom; it stands in an extensive park, which contains the mausoleum, the chateau of Chatelherault, and Cadzow Castle. See CADZOW."

From John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887