Mary Hamilton (lady in waiting)

Mary Hamilton awaiting execution.

Mary Hamilton or Maria Danilovna Gamentova (dead 14 March 1719), was the lady in waiting of Empress Catherine I of Russia and a royal mistress of Tsar Peter the Great of Russia. She was executed for abortion, infanticide, and theft and slander of Empress Catherine. She is pointed out as one of the possible inspirations for the song Mary Hamilton (ballad).

Mary Hamilton was a member of the Scottish family Hamilton, who had emigrated to Russia by Thomas Hamilton during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and was likely the daughter of William Hamilton and the cousin of Evdokiya Grigorievna Hamilton. She became lady in waiting to Empress Catherine in 1713, aroused attention with her beauty and love life and became the lover of Tsar Peter. She also had a lover, Ivan Mikhailovich Orlov. When Orlov betrayed her with Peters other lover, Avdotya Chernysheva, she tried to win him back by bestowing him with gifts stolen from Catherine. She had an abortion in 1715 by taking a medicine for constipation, and gave a secret birth in 1717, after which she drowned the baby. In 1717, Orlov was interrogated about some missing documents of Peter. He confessed his relationship with Hamilton and pointed her out for abortion. Avdotya Chernysheva accused Hamilton of having spread the rumour that Catherine ate wax to keep her skin pale, and when Catherine had Hamilton's room searched, several stolen objects belonging to Catherine were found there. Hamilton and Orlov were both arrested and imprisoned in the Fortress of Saint Petersburg. Mary Hamilton confessed to theft and to have killed her new born infant, but refused to testify against Orlov despite torture.

In November 1718, Mary Hamilton was sentenced to death as guilty of abortion, murder of her infant and theft of jewelry belonging to the Empress. Both Empress Catherine and Tsarina Praskovia Saltykova asked Peter for mercy on her account but without result. She was executed, dressed in white, by decapitation 14 March 1719. She was decapitated by sword instead of an axe, as Peter had promised her that the executioner would not be allowed to touch her. After the execution, the Emperor took up the head, gave a lecture about its anatomy, kissed it and then threw it away. The head of Mary Hamilton was thereafter preserved at the Russian Academy of Science at least until the reign of Catherine the Great.

Sources

• This page is a translation of its Russian equivalent.