Charles Hay, 13th Earl of Erroll (1677 – 16 October 1717) was a Scottish peer and

Lord High Constable of Scotland The Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland. In the order of precedence of Scotland, the office traditionally ranks above all titles except those of the Royal Family.p60-61, Bruce, Alistair, Keepers of the King ...

who strongly opposed the 1707 union of Scotland and England.

Biography

Charles Hay was the eldest son of

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was U ...

, and his wife, Anne, daughter of James Drummond, the 3rd Earl of Perth. He also succeeded his father as Chancellor of

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...

; in 1704 to 1717. The earl was opposed to the

union of Scotland and England The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

in 1707, voicing his dissent:

"I, Charles, Earl of Erroll, Lord High Constable of Scotland, do hereby protest — that the office of High Constable, with all the rights and privileges of the same, belonging to me heritably, and depending upon the Monarchy, Sovereignty, and ancient constitution of this Kingdom, may not be prejudiced by the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England, nor any article, clause, or condition thereof, but that the said heritable office, with all the rights and privileges thereof, may remain to me and my successors, entire and unhurt by any votes or Acts of Parliament whatever relating to the said Union ; and I crave that this, my protestation, may be recorded in the registers and rolls of Parliament."

During the Jacobite uprising in 1708, Erroll was arrested and imprisoned in

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

on suspicion of his involvement with the attempted French invasion. The earl died unmarried, aged 40. As he died childless, the earldom fell to his sister Mary, Countess of Erroll, who became the first ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' countess of Erroll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erroll, Charles Hay, 13th Earl Of 1677 births 1717 deaths 13 17th-century Scottish people Charles, 13 Cavaliers