She was born in Salisbury, the daughter of Major Robert Poore, married Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton and died in London. She had a Princess Coronation Class steam locomotive named after her, which is on static display at the National Railway Museum, York. The Duchess Nina Institute in the village of Quarter, near Hamilton, Scotland, was a gift to the villagers by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton and was formally opened on the 24th September 1910. In 1912 she was a founder of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection, which went on to become Advocates for Animals.