George Henry Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull (23 June 1689 – 28 July 1758), styled as Viscount Dupplin from 1709 to 1719, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

peer and diplomat. He was the eldest son of

Thomas Hay, 7th Earl of Kinnoull Thomas Hay, 7th Earl of Kinnoull (1660 – 5 January 1719), styled as Viscount Dupplin from 1697–1709, was a Scottish peer and Conservative politician. Biography He was a descendant of Peter Hay of Rattray, Perthshire (younger brother ...

and Elizabeth, daughter of

William Drummond, 1st Viscount Strathallan William Drummond, 1st Viscount of Strathallan, Lord Drummond of Cromlix (1617? – 1688), was a Scottish soldier and politician. He served as a Commissioner for Perthshire in the parliaments of 1669–74, 1681–2 and 1685–6, and at the Conven ...

. In 1708, he came under the wing of

Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, Order of the Garter, KG Privy Council of Great Britain, PC Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late Stuart dynasty, Stu ...

, whose position was equal to that of prime minister. He married Oxford's daughter in 1709, and his position as his son-in-law proved advantageous. He was a member of the so-called Tory "

October Club The October Club was a group of Tory Members of Parliament, established after the 1710 general election. The Club was active until approximately 1714. The group took its name from the strong ale they reportedly drank.Pat Rogers, �October Club ('' ...

." In 1710, George Hay became the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Fowey until 1711. He was created Baron Hay of Pedwardine,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

on 1711. He was created along with eleven others, who became known as

Harley's Dozen {{short description, Event in British politics Harley's Dozen were twelve new peerages created in December 1711 by the British Tory government of Robert Harley which was struggling to gain a majority in the Whig-dominated House of Lords. This cam ...

, with the aim of supporting the Tory government's peace policy in the previously Whig-dominated Lords. He then became the

Teller of the Exchequer The Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer. The Tellers of the Exchequer received any money to be paid into the Exchequer, noted the amount in a book, and sent a copy of the entry, called a Teller's Bill, to ...

between 1711 and 1714. William Bromley wrote, on the occasion of Viscount Dupplin accepting the role in 1711, that he was "so pretty a gentleman, so generally well beloved." He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in March 1712. In 1713, he bought

Brodsworth Hall Brodsworth Hall, near Brodsworth, north-west of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, is one of the most complete surviving examples of a Victorian country house in England. It is virtually unchanged since the 1860s. It was designed in the Italiana ...

, Yorkshire from the Wentworth family and rebuilt the house. During the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire ...

, he was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

for suspected Jacobite sympathies from 21 September of that year to 24 June 1716. He was accused of conspiracy in the

Atterbury Plot The Atterbury Plot was a conspiracy led by Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, aimed at the restoration of the House of Stuart to the throne of Great Britain. It came some years after the unsuccessful Jacobite risi ...

of 1722 but a motion for an inquiry failed in the House of Lords, 64 to 29, even though the earl himself voted in favor of the inquiry. He succeeded to the title of 8th Viscount of Dupplin on 5 January 1718/19. On 5 January 1718 he succeeded to the title of 8th Lord Hay of Kinfauns. In 1720, he lost heavily in the South Sea Bubble. The earl was appointed British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire on 16 May 1729. He arrived at Constantinople on 15 April 1730. Recalled on 19 August 1735, he left Turkey in the autumn of 1736. He died in

Ashford, Surrey Ashford is a town almost wholly in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, with a small area contained within the boundaries of the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately west-southwest of central London. Its name derives from a crossing point ...

, on 28 July 1758.

Marriage and issue

He married Harley's elder daughter Abigail around 1 September 1709. They had four sons and six daughters: #

Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull (4 July 1710 – 27 December 1787), styled Viscount Dupplin from 1719 to 1758, was a Scottish peer, British politician, and scholar. Family and education Hay was the eldest son of George Hay, 8th Earl of Kin ...

Robert Hay Drummond Robert Hay (10 November 1711 – 10 December 1776), known later as Robert Hay-Drummond of Cromlix and Innerpeffray, was successively Bishop of St Asaph, Bishop of Salisbury, and, from 1761 until his death, Archbishop of York. Origins and birth ...

, who took on the name and arms of Drummond, as heir of entail of his great-grandfather

and became

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

# John Hay (1719–1751), rector of Epworth # Edward, British diplomat and

Governor of Barbados This article contains a list of viceroys in Barbados from its initial colonisation in 1627 by England until it achieved independence in 1966. From 1833 to 1885, Barbados was part of the colony of the Windward Islands, and the governor of Barbad ...

# Lady Margaret, died unmarried # Lady Elizabeth, died unmarried in Edinburgh on 15 September 1791 # Lady Anne, died unmarried # Lady Abigail, died unmarried in London on 7 July 1785, aged 69 # Lady Henrietta, married on 30 July 1754, to Robert Roper, Chancellor of the diocese of York, and died without issue, at Oxford on 9 October 1798, aged 81 # Lady Mary, married on 5 August 1758, to bishop

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Ire ...

, Bishop of Oxford and Salisbury. Died 26 August 1805, aged 82

Marriage and issue

References

Further reading