Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull (4 July 1710 – 27 December 1787), styled Viscount Dupplin from 1719 to 1758, was a Scottish peer,

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, ...

politician, and scholar.

Family and education

Hay was the eldest son of

George Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull George Henry Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull (23 June 1689 – 28 July 1758), styled as Viscount Dupplin from 1709 to 1719, was a British peer and diplomat. He was the eldest son of Thomas Hay, 7th Earl of Kinnoull and Elizabeth, daughter of William ...

, and Abigail, daughter of

Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, KG PC FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tory ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and then at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. On 12 June 1741, at Oxford Chapel,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, he married Constantia Ernle, the only daughter and heiress of John Kyrle Ernle of Whetham House, near

Calne Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs h ...

, Wiltshire. Her great-grandfather was Sir

John Ernle Sir John Ernle (1620 – June 1697) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1695. He was one of the longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer, a position he held from 2 May 1676 to 9 April 1 ...

, who served as

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

between 1676 and 1689. They had a son, born 12 August 1742, who died 14 October 1743. She died in July 1753, and was buried in Calne. She had left her money to James Money, son of her first cousin, Elizabeth. A lengthy lawsuit followed between Kinnoull and Money. He succeeded to the earldom upon his father's death on 28 July 1758.

Career

As Viscount Dupplin, he was elected for

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

in 1736, but his election was overturned on petition. He sat as

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 of ...

(MP) for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

from 1741 until 1758. As an MP, he gradually rose to a position of influence. In the final two parliaments, he served as chairman of the committee of privileges and elections. In 1741, he was appointed one of the commissioners of the revenue in Ireland, and in 1746 was made a lord of trade and plantations. In 1751,

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

described the earl as "fond of forms and trifles," but "not absolutely a bad speaker." He took a prominent part in the efforts to improve the condition of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. In 1754,

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, (21 July 169317 November 1768) was a British Whig statesman who served as the 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Great Britain, his official life extende ...

made him a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

. He also served joint

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration (1660), Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II, and was responsible for part of the financing of t ...

from 1755 until 1757. He was well known in political and literary circles, and his friends included

Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, (1 December 16906 March 1764) was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 1 ...

William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...

, and the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Thomas Secker Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. Early life and studies Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, D ...

. He was also acquainted with

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

, who used him as a model for the character Balbus in his ''

Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot The '' Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot'' is a satire in poetic form written by Alexander Pope and addressed to his friend John Arbuthnot, a physician. It was first published in 1735 and composed in 1734, when Pope learned that Arbuthnot was dying. Pope d ...

''. He served as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

from 1758 to 1762. In 1759, he served as special envoy to Portugal, returning the next year. After the Duke of Newcastle resigned his posts in 1762, Kinnoull told

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

he would support whatever minister the King should name. However, when the

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, (8 May 1720 – 2 October 1764), styled Lord Cavendish before 1729, and Marquess of Hartington between 1729 and 1755, was a British Whig statesman and nobleman who was briefly nominal 5th Prime Mini ...

was dismissed, Kinnoull resigned his posts from his "inviolable friendship" to Devonshire. He then retired to the country. His final post was as

Chancellor of the University of St Andrews The Chancellor of the University of St Andrews is the titular head of the University of St Andrews. Their duties include conferring degrees, promoting the university's image throughout the world, and furthering the university's interests within ...

from 1765 to his death on 27 December 1787. He was buried in

Aberdalgie Aberdalgie (Gaelic: ''Obar Dheilgidh'', 'Confluence of the Thorn-Stream') is a small village in the Scottish council area of Perth and Kinross. It is southwest of Perth, and lies between the B9112 road, to the north, and the River Earn, to the ...

. The earldom passed to his nephew, Robert Hay-Drummond.

Legacies

The 9th Earl built a modest castle near the highest point of

Kinnoull Hill Kinnoull Hill is a hill located partly in Perth and partly in Kinfauns, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It shares its name with the nearby Kinnoull parish. Summit In view from the -high south-facing summit is the Friarton Bridge, a stretch of t ...

, its tower overlooking the Tay. It was inspired by castles he saw along the Rhine in Germany, during his

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

described Kinnoull Tower in ''Lesley Castle'', a story she wrote in 1790, the year after she stayed there with D'Arcy Wentworth, during their ramble through Scotland :

''I continue secluded from Mankind in our old and Mouldering Castle, which is situated two miles from Perth on a bold projecting rock, and commands an extensive view of the Town and its delightful Environs... You can form no idea sufficiently hideous, of its dungeon like form. It is actually perched on a Rock to appearance so totally inaccessible, that I expected to have been pulled up by a rope''.

Today, Kinnoull Tower is more easily accessible, via a winding footpath through Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park. Another of the 9th Earl's lasting legacies is the

Perth Bridge Perth Bridge (also known as Smeaton's Bridge, locally, the Old Bridge, and in the local dialect of Scots, the Auld Brig) is a toll-free bridge in the city of Perth, Scotland. A Category A listed structure, it spans the River Tay, connecting Pert ...

over the

River Tay The River Tay ( gd, Tatha, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing') is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in Great Britain. The Tay originates ...

, "the Auld Brig" in the local Scots dialect, which he helped fund. Construction commenced in 1766 and was completed in 1771.

Duplin County, North Carolina Duplin County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

...

, was named for Viscount Dupplin, as the 9th Earl was known when he served on the Board of Trade and Plantations in the 1740s. Lempster, New Hampshire, was briefly named Dupplin from 1753 to 1767.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Thomas 1710 births 1787 deaths British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Chancellors of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 09 People educated at Westminster School, London Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Ambassadors of Great Britain to Portugal Paymasters of the Forces