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Historical records matching James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll
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About James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll
From Wikipedia: James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll
James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll (20 April 1726 – Friday, 3 July 1778) styled Lord Boyd from 1728 to 1746, was a Scottish nobleman and the son of William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock.
Early life
He was born James Boyd at Falkirk on 20 April 1726. James was the eldest son of William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock and Lady Anne Livingston, and from 1728 to 1746, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Boyd while his father was Earl of Kilmarnock.
His mother was only daughter of James Livingston, 5th Earl of Linlithgow, a Jacobite attainted for his role in the 1715 Rising, and Lady Margaret Hay (the second daughter of John Hay, 12th Earl of Erroll).
Career
During the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion his father sided with the Young Pretender, despite both James and his brother William then holding commissions under George II; James in the army, William in the navy. Remaining loyal to the Hanoverians, James then served at the Battle of Culloden 16 April 1746 57.47722, -4.09250, fighting on the opposite side to his father. During the rout following the Jacobite defeat, the Earl was captured and taken into the government camp, dishevelled and bareheaded, where he was reportedly recognised by James, who placed his own hat upon his father's head. This was the last time they were to meet, as the Earl was then transported to London where he was tried for treason and executed four months later; forfeiting all his lands and titles and thus depriving James of his inheritance.
In 1751, however, although the Earldom was abolished, James was permitted to inherit the Kilmarnock estates. These included Dean Castle 55.6233, -4.4839, the former family seat which had been gutted by a fire in 1735. Trying to recoup some of his father's debts (which he had also inherited), James sold the ruined castle to the 13th Earl of Glencairn. From 1751 to 1752, he served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
Later life
On Saturday, 19 August 1758, he succeeded his maternal great-aunt, Mary Hay, 14th Countess of Erroll as the 15th Earl of Erroll, simultaneously changing his surname from Boyd to Hay, as he and his descendants were henceforth known. Along with the title Earl of Erroll, he also held the ceremonial hereditary office of Lord High Constable of Scotland.
Between 1770 and 1774, he served as a Tory Representative Peer in the House of Lords, and from 1770 to 1778, he was Lord of Police for Scotland.
Personal life
On 15 September 1749, he married Rebecca Lockhart, the daughter of Alexander Lockhart, Lord Covington. Before her death in 1761, they were the parents of one daughter:
- Lady Mary Hay (born 1754), who married Gen. John Scott of Balcomie in 1770, divorced in 1771.
In 1762, he married Isabella Carr (1747–1808), daughter of Sir William Carr of Etal, Northumberland. Together, they were the parents of twelve children, including:
- Lady Charlotte Hay (1763–1800), who married Rev. William Holwell, Vicar of Menheniot, in 1797.
- Lady Isabella Anne Hay (1765–1793)
- Lady Augusta Hay (1766–1822), who married George Boyle, 4th Earl of Glasgow.
- George Hay, 16th Earl of Erroll (1767–1798), who married Elizabeth Jemima Blake, the sister of Joseph Blake, 1st Baron Wallscourt.
- Lady Harriet Jane Hay (1768–1812)
- Lady Margaret Hay (1769–1832), who married Charles Cameron in 1789.
- Lady Maria Elizabeth Hay (1771–1804), who married Rev. George Moore, Rector of Wrotham, eldest son of Most. Rev. John Moore, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1795.
- William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll (1772–1819), who married three times and had eleven children.
- Lady Frances Hay (1773–1806)
- Lady Flaminia Hay (1774–1821), who married Capt. George James in 1809.
- Lady Jemima Hay (1776–1822)
- Hon. James Hay (died 1797)
Lord Erroll died on Friday, 3 July 1778 at Callendar House, Callendar Road, Falkirk FK1 1YR 55.99464, -3.76711, aged fifty-two, and was succeeded by his eldest son, George. His widow died Thursday, 3 November 1808.
Descendants
Lord Erroll's grandson, William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, was created Baron Kilmarnock in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831.
From British Newspaper Archive: The Scots Magazine June 1778 Page 52 Deaths
Deaths: Wednesday, 3 June 1778. At Callendar house, James Hay, Earl of Errol, Hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland. Besides Errol, which came his mother, his Lordship was the representative of two other Earldoms which came her, Livingston Earl of Linlithgow, and Livingston Earl of Callender, also of Boyd Earl of Kilmarnock, by his father; these three are now extinct by forfeiture.
By his lady, a daughter of Mr Carr of Etal in Northumberland, to whom he was married Tuesday, 10 August 1762, and who survives, he has left issue, three sons and nine daughters. He is succeeded in honours and estate by his eldest son George Lord Hay, now at Harrow school.
Coronation of George III and Charlotte, Westminster Abbey, London, 22 September 1761 Westminster Abbey, Dean's Yard, London, SW1P 3PA 51.49944, -0.12750 His Lordship was accounted the handsomest man in the island. — "At his present Majesty's coronation, he attended in his robe, and by accident neglected to take off his cap when the King entered. He apologised for his negligence in the most respectful manner; but his Majesty, with great complacency, entreated him to be covered, for he looked upon his presence at the solemnity as a very particular honour; and the Earl actually continued during the solemnity with his cap upon his head."
James Hay, Earl of Errol, Baron Hay, of Stanes, and Hereditary High Constable of Scotland, whose death is mentioned in the preceding page, was the eldest son of William Boyd, late Earl of Kilmarnock, (beheaded for high treason, in 1746,) and then called Lord Boyd, by his wife Lady Anne, daughter of James, Earl of Linlithgow and Callendar, by his wife the Lady Margaret, youngest sister of Charles 14th Earl of Errol, and succeeded his mother, the Countess of Errol, in 1747, when he took the surname of Hay, and at the coronation of the present King, officiated as Lord High Constable of Scotland.
He married Rebecca Lockhart, Daughter of Alexander Lockhart, Esq. by whom he had one daughter, Lady Mary Hay. Her ladyship dying in 1764, he married secondly, Miss Carr, daughter of William Carr, of Etal, in Northumberland, Lady Charlotte, and a son, born in May 1767, to whom his Majesty, by proxy, stood Godfather. His Lordship has left two brothers, Charles and William.
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James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll's Timeline
| 1726 |
April 20, 1726
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Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland (United Kingdom)
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| 1754 |
July 24, 1754
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| 1766 |
1766
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| 1767 |
May 13, 1767
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| 1769 |
December 12, 1769
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Cruden, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (United Kingdom)
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| 1771 |
April 30, 1771
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| 1772 |
May 12, 1772
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| 1778 |
July 3, 1778
Age 52
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Callendar House, Callendar Road, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, FK1 1YR, Scotland (United Kingdom)
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