Robert III de , 3rd Earl of Leicester BEAUMONT

                   On Leicester, Earldom of [Burke's Peerage, p. 1671]:

The 4th [Beaumont] Earl, who was also the fourth named Robert,accompanied Richard I on the Third Crusade but accomplished a smoothtransfer of loyalty to John on the latter's succession in 1199.  On hisdeath without issue in 1204 the elder of his two sisters and coheirs,Amice, began calling herself Countess of Leicester.  Her first husbandwas Simon de Montfort (roughly halfway between Paris and Chartres) andRochefort, and her son by him, another Simon de Montfort, was beingregarded as Earl of Leicester by the years 1205 or 1206, shortly afterthe death of his maternal uncle [Robert de Beaumont], the 4th Earl ofwhatever creation had occurred in or about 1102.
                  

                   On Leicester, Earldom of [Burke's Peerage, p. 1671]:

The 4th Earl, who was also the fourth named Robert, accompanied Richard Ion the Third Crusade but accomplished a smooth transfer of loyalty toJohn on the latter's succession in 1199.  On his death without issue in1204 the elder of his two sisters and coheirs, Amice, began callingherself Countess of Leicester.
                  

                   Despite what the information below states, William was not an Earl ofLeicester.  In fact his death would have had to have preceded his elderbrother Robert's death in 1204, because Robert was the 4th Earl ofLeicester; and when Robert died, his holdings and title were held by hissisters and eventually the title ended up with Simon de Montfort throughAmice/Amicia, Robert's sister.  If William were still alive at the timeof Robert's death, he would have become Earl of Leicester, and any maleoffspring would have become earls as well.  Thus a male dominated descentfrom Robert de Beaumont is unlikely.

I look for William to be a descendant of one of Robert's sisters, perhapsMargaret (married Saher de Quincy) who had a daughter name Loretta whomarried William de Valognes of Scotland.  Loretta and William perhaps hada son William, who may, even though born in Scotland, have inherited anestate near the now extinct village of Hamilton, Leicestershire and had astrong Scottish connection.  He certainly could have visited Scotlandaround 1215, married a Scottish woman, etc.  Certainly the William,father of Gilbert Lord of Buthernock, would have been born a lot laterthan 1156.

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The following I obtained from Karen Hamilton, World Connectdb=alaskalady, rootsweb.com
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Information from Robert & Kathlynne Groner; 733 Carol Lane; Elyria, OH44035; groner@mediaone.com

Possibly born Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England.

He was 3rd Earl of Leicester and is said to have been the founder of theillustrious house of Hamilton and to have assumed his surname in 1172from the place of his birth, the Manor of Hambleden (Hamilton) in theparish of Barkby, County of Leicester.  It is stated that about 1215, hewent to Scotland to visit his sister [Margaret], the Countess ofWinchester and her husband Sayer de Quincey, Earl of Winchester.Conflicts between England and Scotland made it necessary for him toreturn to England to save his estates from confiscation.  The conflictingstatements of noted writers' reference to the descent of the family ofHamilton from the Earls of Leicester leave in doubt whether Sir Williamde Hamilton was the individual member of the Bellomont family who was thefounder of the house of Hamilton, but the belief that the family isdescended from the Earls of Leicester is supported by the concurringstatements of many genealogists.