Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton (6 January 1632 – 17 October 1716) was a Scottish peeress.
The daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Marquess of Hamilton, Scottish General and premier peer of the realm, and Lady Mary Feilding, daughter of William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh, and his wife, the former Lady Susan Villiers, a sister of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
She was born at the Palace of Whitehall in London, where her mother was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Henrietta Maria of France, wife of King Charles I.
Her name is found as a shareholder in "A List of the Names of the Adventurers in the Bank of Scotland, February 4, 1697". Holding shares worth £8000 Scots, she was entitled to be elected as Governor.
Following the 1st Duke's execution for his part in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1649, his brother, William, Earl of Lanark, inherited the titles and lands. William died from wounds received at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, whilst leading his regiment into some of the thickest of the fighting. In his will made at The Hague in 1650, he stipulated that the Lady Anne was his heir, over and above his own children, (all daughters, his only son having died in childhood).
Lady Anne became the Duchess of Hamilton, with the subsidiary titles Marchioness of Clydesdale, Countess of Arran, Lanark and Cambridge, the Lady Aven, Innerdale, Machanshire and Polmont. She succeeded to the dukedom of Hamilton thanks to a remainder that stipulated, the dukedom should devolve upon his brother and male heirs, and that the eldest daughter of the 1st Duke should succeed to the dukedom only if her uncle died leaving no sons.
Through paternal descent, Anne had a claim to the throne of Scotland, although this was dependent upon the failure of the House of Stuart. She was descended from James II through the marriage of the 1st Lord Hamilton to James's daughter Mary. Her great-great-grandfather, the 2nd Earl of Arran, had been heir presumptive from the death of Regent Albany until the birth of James VI, and had served as regent of Scotland during the childhood and absence in France of Mary, Queen of Scots.
She was wed in 1656, at the kirk of Corstorphine near Edinburgh, to William Douglas, 1st Earl of Selkirk, a younger son of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas. Selkirk was created Duke of Hamilton for his lifetime, included the subsidiary titles pertaining to the Dukedom jure uxoris, and in 1660 he assumed the surname Hamilton. Between 1657 and 1673, the couple produced 13 children:
Lady Mary Hamilton (1657–1666)
James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), until 1698 he was styled as Earl of Arran
Lord William Hamilton (1659–1681)
Lady Anna Hamilton (1661–1663)
Lady Catherine Hamilton (1662–1707), married John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl
Lord Charles Hamilton (1664–1739), later 2nd Earl of Selkirk
Lord John Hamilton (1665–1744), later 1st Earl of Ruglen and 3rd Earl of Selkirk
Field Marshal Lord George Hamilton (1666–1737), later 1st Earl of Orkney
Lady Susan Hamilton, married firstly John Cochrane, 2nd Earl of Dundonald; married secondly John Hay, 3rd Marquess of Tweeddale
Lady Margaret Hamilton (1668–1731), married James Maule, 4th Earl of Panmure