James Hamilton, 8th Earl of AbercornPC (Ire) (22 October 1712 – 9 October 1789), styled Lord Paisley from 1734 to 1736, was an Anglo-Irish peer. He inherited large estates in Ireland, where he built a mansion, and re-acquired some of the family's ancestral lands in Scotland.
He also had a seat at Witham, Essex, and built a great new house at Baronscourt in Ireland from 1779 to 1781.[4] He was responsible for beginning the development of the new town of Paisley in 1779,[3] across the River Cart from the old town.
The Committee for Privileges, on 13 February 1787, set a precedent by resolving that this vacated his seat as a representative peer for Scotland. Abercorn died at Boroughbridge on 9 October 1789 while travelling, and was buried at Paisley Abbey. All his titles devolved upon his nephew John James.[3]