William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll

William George Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, KT, GCH, PC (21 February 1801 – 19 April 1846), styled Lord Hay between 1815 and 1819, was a Scottish peer and politician.[1]

The Earl of Erroll
Lord Steward of the Household
In office
21 November 1839 – 30 August 1841
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Melbourne
Preceded byThe Duke of Argyll
Succeeded byThe Earl of Liverpool
Personal details
Born21 February 1801 (1801-02-21)
Died19 April 1846 (1846-04-20) (aged 45)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyWhig
Spouse
(m. 1820)
Children5, including William Hay, 19th Earl of Erroll, Agnes Duff, Countess Fife
Parent(s)William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll
Alice Eliot

Early life

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Erroll was the son of William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll, and his wife Alice (née Eliot). His paternal grandfather was James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll, son of William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock (who was attainted with his titles forfeited in 1746). He became heir apparent to the earldom in 1815 on the death of his elder brother, Lord Hay, who was killed during the Waterloo Campaign. He was educated at Eton.[2]

Career

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Erroll succeeded his father in the earldom in 1819, aged 18. In 1823 he was elected a Scottish representative peer and took his seat in the House of Lords. He was Master of the Horse to Queen Adelaide from 1830 to 1834. In 1831 he was sworn of the Privy Council and created Baron Kilmarnock, of Kilmarnock in the County of Ayr, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom,[3] a revival of the Kilmarnock title held by his great-grandfather. When the Whigs came to power under Lord Melbourne in 1835, Erroll was appointed Master of the Buckhounds.[4] In 1839 he was promoted to Lord Steward of the Household on the decease of the Duke of Argyll, a post he held until the administration fell in 1841.

Apart from his political career Lord Erroll was also Knight Marischal of Scotland from 1832 to 1846,[5][6] and Lord-Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire from 1836 to 1846.[7]

Personal life

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Lord Erroll married Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence, the illegitimate daughter of King William IV and Dorothy Jordan, on 4 December 1820. They were the parents of four children:[8]

Lord Erroll died in London in April 1846, aged 45, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William. The Countess of Erroll died in January 1856, aged 54.

Recreation

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Lord Erroll was the chief organiser of the Dublin Bay regatta held in Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) in 1828.[10]

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Kidd, Charles (1990). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. David Williamson (1990 ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-04640-5.
  2. ^ Eton College; Henry Edward Chetwynd Stapylton (1863). The Eton school lists, from 1791 to 1850: every third year after 1793, with notes. E. P. Williams. pp. 87.
  3. ^ "No. 18808". The London Gazette. 31 May 1831. p. 1050.
  4. ^ "No. 19266". The London Gazette. 1 May 1835. p. 857.
  5. ^ MacVeigh, J. (1889). Dal-Mac. The Scottish Nation: Or, The Historical and Genealogical Account of All Scottish Families and Surnames. p. 588.
  6. ^ Cokayne, G.E. (1926). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom: Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant. The Complete Peerage of England. St. Catherine Press, Limited. p. 101.
  7. ^ Taylor, James (1887). The Great Historic Families of Scotland.
  8. ^ Lodge, Edmund; Anne Innes; Eliza Innes; Maria Innes (1851). The Peerage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. Saunders and Otley. p. 222.
  9. ^ "Arran, Earl of (I, 1762)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  10. ^ The Scotsman, 21 June 1828
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Court offices
New office Master of the Horse to Queen Adelaide
1830–1834
Succeeded by
Preceded by Master of the Buckhounds
1835–1839
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Steward
1839–1841
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire
1836–1846
Succeeded by
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Earl of Erroll
1819–1846
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Kilmarnock
1831–1846
Succeeded by