William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll (1423 – October 1462) was a Scottish peer. He was the first

Earl of Erroll Earl of Erroll () is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay. The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are ''Lord Hay'' (created 1449) and ''Lord Slains'' (1452), both in the Peerage of Scotland. ...

and the second Lord Hay of Erroll.

Biography

William Hay was born in

Erroll Erroll is an English male given name or surname that is synonymous to Earl. Notable people with the name include: *Earl of Erroll, Scottish title *Erroll Bennett (1950–2025), French/Tahitian footballer * Erroll M. Brown (born 1950), first USCG Af ...

(now spelled Errol) in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, the son of Gilbert Hay and Alicia Hay, daughter of William Hay of Yester. His paternal grandmother, Princess Elizabeth Stewart, was the youngest child of

Robert II of Scotland Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, h ...

and his first wife,

Elizabeth Mure Elizabeth Mure (est. born 2 March 1320 - died before May 1355), a member of Clan Muir, was the first wife of Robert, High Steward of Scotland, and Guardian of Scotland (1338–1341 and from October 1346), who later became King Robert II of Scot ...

. His paternal grandfather

Thomas de la Hay Sir Thomas de la Hay, 7th Lord of Erroll (c. 1342 – July 1406) was Lord High Constable of Scotland. He was the third member of the Hay family to hold this post. He was the son of David de la Hay and a daughter of John Keith of Innerpeffer. ...

was the third

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 ...

. William Hay inherited the title in 1437 after the death of his father Sir William. In 1454, he purchased lands in

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

from Alexander Ogilvie of

Auchterhouse Auchterhouse (; ) is a village, community, and civil parish in the Scottish council area of Angus, located north west of Dundee, south east of Alyth and south west of Forfar. It lies on the southern edge of the Sidlaw Hills, below Auchter ...

. On 17 March 1452, King

James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his fathe ...

made him the first Earl of Erroll. Some historians list his death as August 1460, but Sir

James Balfour Paul Sir James Balfour Paul (16 November 1846 – 15 September 1931) was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926. Life James Balfour Paul was educated at Royal High School, Edinbur ...

notes in ''

The Scots Peerage ''The Scots Peerage'' is a nine-volume book series of the Scottish nobility compiled and edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, published in Edinburgh from 1904 to 1914. The full title is ''The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Rober ...

'' that Kinnoull was alive in the Slains land inventory of November 1461. Balfour writes that the earl likely died in October 1462, and was interred in the Abbey Church of Cupar.

Marriage and issue

He married Beatrix, a daughter of

James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas, 1st Earl of Avondale (1371 – 24 March 1443), latterly known as James the Gross, and prior to his ennoblement as James of Balvenie, was a late mediaeval Scottish magnate. He was the second son of Archibald Do ...

, and had three sons and four daughters: # Nicholas Hay, 2nd Earl of Erroll (–1470) #Lady Isabel Hay (1441–1509), married Laurence Oliphant, 1st Lord Oliphant #Lady Elizabeth Hay (, married George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly in 1471 #Lady Beatrix Hay (1449–1517), married Sir Alexander Gordon #

William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll ( – 14 January 1507) was a Scottish peer. He was the third Earl of Erroll and the fourth Lord Hay of Erroll. Biography William Hay was the son of William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll and his wife, Beatrix, dau ...

(1449–1507) #Gilbert Hay (b. 1450) #Lady Margaret Hay (1453–1500), married three times: Alexander Fraser of Philorth; Sir Gilbert Keith of Inverugie; Robert Douglas of Lochleven

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erroll, William, 1st Earl of 1423 births 1462 deaths Nobility from Perth and Kinross 01 15th-century Scottish peers William, 01 Peers created by James II of Scotland