The father, descended from Sir James Hamilton of Cadzow, fell at the battle of Langside, fighting for Mary, Queen of Scots (13 May 1568).
At an early period of his ministry he was appointed by the general assembly to the discharge of important duties pertaining to the office of superintendent or visitor, and after 1597 he was one of the standing commission chosen by the church from among its more eminent clergy to confer with the king on ecclesiastical matters.
[1] A supporter of the royal measures for the restoration of episcopacy, he received on 3 March 1605, the temporalities of the bishopric of Galloway, to which were added those of the priory of Whithorn on 29 September and of the abbeys of Dundrennan and Glenluce.
In 1606 the general assembly appointed him constant moderator of the presbytery of Kirkcudbright, and three years later he was sent up to court by the other titular bishops to confer with the king as to further measures which were in contemplation for the advancement of their order.
[1] On his return to Scotland Hamilton assisted in consecrating the rest of the bishops, and died in February 1612, aged about 51.