Sir Robert Hay, 8th Baronet

Sir Robert Hay, 8th Baronet of Smithfield and Haystoun DL JP (8 May 1825 – 30 May 1885) was a Scottish baronet.

Early life

Portrait of his grandfather, Sir John Hay, 5th Baronet, studio of Sir Henry Raeburn

Hay was born on 8 May 1825. He was the son of Sir Adam Hay, 7th Baronet and Henrietta Callender Grant. His father served as MP for Lanark Burghs from 1826 to 1830.[1] Among his surviving siblings were Dorothea Hay (wife of Henry Scudamore-Stanhope, 9th Earl of Chesterfield)[2] and Louisa Grace Hay (second wife of Brig.-Gen. James Wolfe Murray, son of James Wolfe Murray, Lord Cringletie).[3]

His father, the second surviving son of Sir John Hay, 5th Baronet and Hon. Mary Elizabeth Forbes (a daughter of James Forbes, 16th Lord Forbes), succeeded to the baronetcy after the death of his brother, Sir John Hay, 6th Baronet, MP for Peeblesshire. His maternal grandparents were William Grant and Dorothea Dalrymple. His aunt, Louisa Grant, was the wife of the Hon. William Keith-Falconer (younger son of the 6th Earl of Kintore).[4]

Career

Upon the death of his father on 18 January 1867, he succeeded as the 8th Baronet Hay, of Smithfield and Haystoun. His seat was Kings Meadow, Haystown, Peebles (and he entailed the estates),[5] and he was a member of the Carlton and Marlborough Clubs.[6]

Sir Robert served as a Deputy Lieutenant and Magistrate for Peeblesshire, and a Major in the Midlothian Rifle Volunteers.[6]

Personal life

In August 1853 married Sarah "Sally" Duncan (1833–1910),[7] a daughter of Sarah (née Butler) Duncan and Alexander Duncan. Her father was originally from Parkhill Arbroath, Scotland but moved to America, attended Yale University, and settled in Providence, Rhode Island.[8] Sally was sister to W. Butler Duncan, a prominent banker and railroad executive.[9][10][11] Before his death in 1885, they were the parents of:[6]

• Sir John Adam Hay, 9th Baronet (1854–1895), who married Anne Milliken-Napier, daughter of Sir Robert Milliken-Napier, 9th Baronet, in 1881.[2][12]
• Alexander Duncan Hay (1858–1881), a Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery who died unmarried while hunting in Leicestershire.[13]
• Athole Stanhope Hay (1861–1933), who married Caroline Margaret Cunard, daughter of Sir Edward Cunard, 2nd Baronet, in 1890.[14]
• Henrietta Louisa Hay (1862–1944), who died unmarried.[13]
• Robert Butler Hay (1864–1912), who married Ella Bulkeley-Johnson, daughter of Francis Bulkeley Johnson, in 1899.[13]
• Adele Hay (1867–1931), who married her first cousin, Hon. Charles Hay Scudamore-Stanhope in 1900.[13]

Sir Robert died on 30 May 1885, at age 60, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, John. After his death, his widow moved to 7 Princess Gate, Hyde Park, London, where she died in 1910.[7]

References

1. Fisher, David R. (2009). D.R. Fisher (ed.). "HAY, Adam (1795-1867)". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1832. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
2. Lodge, Edmund (1901). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing: Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility. Hurst and Blackett Limited. p. 924. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
3. Cokayne, George Edward (1926). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom: Eardley of Spalding to Goojerat. 6. Gordon to Hustpierpoint. St. Catherine Press, Limited. p. 49. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
4. Lodge's Peerage and Baronetage (knightage & Companionage) of the British Empire. Hurst & Blackett. 1861. p. 342. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
5. Buchan, James Walter (1925). A History of Peeblesshire. Jackson, Wylie and Company. p. 368. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
6. Debrett's Illustrated Baronetage and Knightage (and Companionage) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1880. p. 216. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
7. "DOWAGER LADY HAY DEAD.; Widow of Sir Robert Hay, Bart., and Sister of William Butler Duncan". The New York Times. 2 February 1910. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
8. Whyte, Donald, ed. (2009) [1972]. A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the U.S.A., Volume 1. Genealogical Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 978-0806348179.
9. "W. Butler Duncan, Old New Yorker, Dead at 82". The New York Sun. 21 June 1912. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
10. "William Butler Duncan Papers". Mystic Seaport. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
11. "Wm. Butler Duncan Dies in 82d Year" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 June 1912. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
12. Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage: Comprising Information Concerning All Persons Bearing Hereditary Or Courtesy Titles, Companions of All the Various Orders, and the Collateral Branches of All Peers and Baronets. Dean and Son. 1888. p. 260. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
13. G. Pine, editor, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 99th edition (London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1949), page 978.
14. Moffat, R. Burnham (1904). The Barclays of New York: who They are and who They are Not,-and Some Other Barclays. R. G. Cooke. p. 191. Retrieved 14 February 2024.

Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by Adam Hay	Baronet (of Smithfield and Haystoun) 1867–1885	Succeeded by John Adam Hay