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Victor Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll

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Victor Alexander Sereld Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll and 4th Baron Kilmarnock, KCMG (17 October 1876 – 20 February 1928), styled Lord Kilmarnock from 1891 to 1927, was a British diplomat, a writer and briefly a member of the House of Lords, who was "noted for his tact and charm."[1]

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Erroll
KCMG
Photograph of Lord Kilmarnock, 1920
British High Commissioner to the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission
In office
December 1920 – 20 February 1928
Preceded bySir Harold Stuart
Succeeded byWilliam Seeds
Personal details
Born
Victor Alexander Sereld Hay

(1876-10-17)17 October 1876
Died20 February 1928(1928-02-20) (aged 51)
Spouse
Mary Lucy Victoria Mackenzie
​
​
(m. 1900)​
ChildrenJosslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll
Gilbert Boyd, 6th Baron Kilmarnock
Lady Rosemary Hay
Parent(s)Charles Hay, 20th Earl of Erroll
Mary Caroline L'Estrange
RelativesWilliam Harry Hay, 19th Earl of Erroll (grandfather)
Diana Hay, 23rd Countess of Erroll (granddaughter)

Early life

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Erroll was the first son of Charles Hay, 20th Earl of Erroll (1852–1927) and his wife Mary Caroline L'Estrange.[2] He was a godson of Queen Victoria and a favourite of George V and Queen Mary, who often invited him to Balmoral Castle.[1]

Through his paternal grandfather, the 19th Earl of Erroll, he was a direct descendant of William IV (his great-grandmother Elizabeth Hay, Countess of Erroll, wife of the 18th Earl of Erroll, was King William's daughter by his mistress Dorothea Jordan. His maternal grandfather was General the Hon. Sir Charles Stephen Gore, KH, GCB, a Waterloo officer (who was a son of the 2nd Earl of Arran and brother to the Duchess of Inverness).[2] His maternal grandparents were Edmund L'Estrange and Lady Harriett L'Estrange (sister of Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough, and daughter of Frederick Lumley-Savile and of Charlotte De la Poer-Beresford, a daughter of George de la Poer Beresford, Bishop of Kilmore).[3]

Career

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The young Hay entered the diplomatic service and was promoted Attaché, 1900, Third Secretary in July 1902,[4] Second Secretary, 1906, First Secretary, 1913. He was First Secretary in Copenhagen, 1918–19, then briefly Chargé d'Affaires in Berlin, on the United Kingdom's resumption of diplomatic relations with Germany in 1920, until the arrival of a British Ambassador. He remained in Berlin as Counsellor until November, 1921, and served finally as British High Commissioner to the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission, from December 1921 until his death in February 1928.[5]

He was also an author and belonged to the St James's Club. He had two plays published and produced in London, The Dream Kios and The Anonymous Letter.[6]

He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1927.[1]

Personal life

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In 1900, he married Mary Lucy Victoria Mackenzie, only daughter of Sir Allan Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet, of Glen Muick, Aberdeenshire. She inherited a fortune made by her grandfather in the indigo trade in India.[1] Together, they were the parents of two sons and one daughter:[2]

He held the earldom only briefly, and was succeeded by his elder son, Lord Kilmarnock, in 1928.[6] Today, his son and heir is best known for the unsolved case surrounding his murder and the sensation it caused during wartime in Britain.[8][9][10][11]

Shooting incident

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On Wednesday 31 August 1910, Lord Kilmarnock was one of a shooting party at Balmoral, with George V and friends. Captain Hood (later to become a rear admiral) accidentally shot Kilmarnock, who was in a shooting butt near him. Kilmarnock's glasses were broken, and he sustained a "slight abrasion".[12] The Buchan Observer reported:[12]

It appears that the accident happened about two o'clock in the afternoon, and that Captain Hood was in the next butt to his Lordship. Captain Hood got on to the line of a bird just crossing between his butt and that of Lord Kilmarnock who was facing him. When the trigger was pulled Lord Kilmarnock at once shouted to his companion who ceased firing immediately. At the close of the drive he reported the accident to the King, who expressed sympathy with both Lord Kilmarnock and Captain Hood. His Lordship continued shooting all the afternoon, and it was not until after dinner that Dr Mitchell was sent for. Captain Hood, who was greatly upset at the accident, left the hill and returned to Braemar a short time after the occurrence.[12]

There followed "exaggerated reports" of the incident, which Kilmarnock denied, saying that he dined with the king on the Thursday night.[12] One of those reports, by The Darling Downs Gazette (Toowoomba), reported that it was George V who had shot Kilmarnock, that Kilmarnock was "badly wounded", and that "the most desperate efforts have been made to hush the whole thing up".[13]

Publications

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  • Ferelith, 1903
  • The Dream Kiss (play), produced at the Wimbledon Theatre, 1924
  • The Anonymous Letter (play), produced at Q Theatre, 1927

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "EARL OF ERROLL DIES SUDDENLY; British High Commissioner in Rhineland Is Stricken While at Coblentz. SCOTLAND'S HIGHEST PEER Descendant of William 11 and Godson of Victoria--Noted for HisCharm and Tact". The New York Times. 21 February 1928. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Erroll, Earl of (S, 1452)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  3. ^ Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed]
  4. ^ "No. 27500". The London Gazette. 2 December 1902. p. 8366.
  5. ^ ERROLL, Victor Hay, 21st Earl of at Who Was Who 1897–2006 online.
  6. ^ a b "Late obiturary: Earl of Erroll". Observer. Adelaide. 25 February 1928. p. 43. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. ^ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (25 January 1941). "AUTO CRASH FATAL TO EARL OF ERROLL; London Gets Word of Death in Kenya Colony of Lord High Constable of Scotland". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  8. ^ "HINTS EARL OF ERROLL WAS MURDER VICTIM; Doctor Finds Pistol Wound After Kenya Auto Accident". The New York Times. 28 January 1941. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  9. ^ "KENYA KILLING LAID TO TITLED OFFICER; Sir Delves Broughton Accused of Murder of Earl of Erroll After Fashionable Party MISSING PISTOLS HUNTED Younger Victim Had Escorted Bride of Suspect Home -Suicide 'Ruse' Rejected". The New York Times. 12 March 1941. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  10. ^ "EARL OF ERROLL SEEN AS A BRITISH FASCIST; Political Motive in His Murder Hinted as Kenya Trial Opens". The New York Times. 27 May 1941. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  11. ^ "FREED IN KENYA MURDER; Broughton Acquitted in 3 1/2 Hours of Killing Earl of Errol". The New York Times. 3 July 1941. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d "Mishap at King's shooting party. Lord Kilmarnock struck by pellets". Buchan Observer and East Aberdeenshire Advertiser. 6 September 1910. p. 6 col.6. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  13. ^ "The King shoots a friend. Sensational mishap at Balmoral". Darling Downs Gazette Toowoomba. Trove. 6 September 1910. p. 7 col.5. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
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Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Earl of Erroll
1927–1928 		Succeeded by
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