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 Kingdo ...

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 Secretary to the President of the United States, private secretary for Abraha ...

, and his wife,

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, daughter of James Drummond, the 3rd

Earl of Perth Earl of Perth is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for James Drummond, 4th Lord Drummond. The Drummond family claim descent from Maurice, son of George, a younger son of King Andrew I of Hungary. Maurice arrived in Sc ...

. 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 Aberdonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...

; in 1704 to 1717. In March 1705 he was made a knight of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

by the exiled

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...

. The earl was opposed to the union of Scotland and England 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, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

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 Nobility from Perth and Kinross 13 17th-century Scottish people Charles, 13 Cavaliers Scottish Jacobites