Lords Hay of Yester (1488)

1^st Lord Hay, John Hay, b.c.1450, a.1488, d.1508

Son of Sir David Hay of Locherworth in Peeblesshire and Yester in Haddingtonshire, who was Hereditary Sheriff of Peebles, and Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of George Douglas, 1^st Earl of Angus. The family seat was Neidpath Castle.

2^nd Lord Hay, John Hay, b.c.1470, a.1508, d.1513

Son of the 1^st Lord and Elizabeth Cunningham, daughter of Sir George Cunningham of Belton. He died at Flodden.

3^rd Lord Hay, John Hay, b.?, a.1513, d.1543

Son of the 2^nd Lord and Elizabeth Crichton.

4^th Lord Hay, John Hay, b.c.1510, a.1543, d.c.1556

Son of the 3^rd Lord and Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of George Douglas, Master of Douglas, son of Archibald Douglas, 5^th Earl of Angus. He was captured at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547 and held in the Tower of London until 1550.

5^th Lord Hay, William Hay, b.1537-1538, a.c.1556, d.1586

Son of the 4^th Lord and Margaret Livingston, daughter of William Livingston, 4^th Lord Livingston. He was a supporter of Queen Mary and was present at Carberry Hill and Langside.

6^th Lord Hay, William Hay, b.c.1561, a.1586, d.1590-1591

Son of the 5^th Lord and Margaret Kerr, daughter of Sir John Kerr of Ferniehurst. He was known as a violent and troublesome man in his youth, and was responsible for the ongoing feud between the Hays and the Stewarts of Traquair, which finally required the intervention of the King. In later life he was involved in the Raid of Ruthven, and after this failed he lived on the Continent for several years before he felt safe in returning.

7^th Lord Hay, James Hay, b.?, a.1590-1591, d.1609

Younger brother of the 6^th Lord.

8^th Lord Hay, John Hay, b.1593, a.1609, d.1653

Son of the 7^th Lord and Margaret Kerr (b.?, d.1645), daughter of Mark Kerr, 1^st Earl of Lothian. He was a staunch Presbyterian and opposed to any attempts by the King to alter it’s development. He voted against the Five Articles of Perth in Parliament in 1621 and also against the Act imposing rules on ecclesiastical dress in 1633, a move that stalled his promotion to earl. In 1639 he accompanied General Leslie at the head of the Covenanter army that went south into England but he refused to take any command position. He was created 1^st Earl of Tweeddale in 1646 when King Charles fled to Scotland to seek refuge from Cromwell.

Earls of Tweeddale (1646)

1^st Earl of Tweeddale, John Hay, b.1593, a.1646, d.1653

2^nd Earl of Tweeddale, John Hay, b.1625, a.1653, d.1697

Son of the 1^st Earl and Jean Seton (b.?, d.1627), daughter of Alexander Seton, 1^st Earl of Dunfermline. During the Civil Wars, he appears to have switched sides several times. He spent his youth in London, and began the wars as a Royalist, then, returning to Scotland with his father, fought with the Parliamentarians at the Battle of Marston Moor, then reverted to the Royalist side at the Battle of Preston. After the Battle of Worcester, however, he consented to become a Member of the Commonwealth Parliament, but after the Restoration was made a Privy Counsellor, then Lord President of the Scottish Council in 1663, an Extraordinary Lord of Session in 1666 and a member of the English Privy Council in 1668. In his position, he sought to moderate the treatment of the Covenanters. However he lost office due to the influence of John Maitland, 1^st Duke of Lauderdale, who was then Lord President of the English Privy Council. He was also burdened by debt, having been the guarantor for his uncle, the Earl of Dunfermline, and eventually had to sell off all his Tweeddale estates to clear the debt. After Lauderdale’s death, he returned to government, and was made a Privy Counsellor for the second time in 1689, and Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1692 to 1696. As a reward for supporting the overthrow of James VII and II, he was made 1^st Marquess of Tweeddale, 1^st Earl of Gifford and 1^st Viscount of Walden in 1694. He was ultimately dismissed from his post as Chancellor for supporting the disastrous Darien scheme.

Marquesses of Tweeddale (1694)

1^st Marquess of Tweeddale, John Hay, as above

2^nd Marquess of Tweedale, John Hay, b.1645, a.1697, d.1713

Son of the 1^st Marquess and Lady Jane Scott (b.1628-1629, d.1688), daughter of Walter Scott, 1^st Earl of Buccleuch. Although married to the daughter of the Duke of Lauderdale, he initially had a good relationship with his father-in-law, until Lauderdale’s wife, Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart, began to take control of the failing duke’s life, alienating him from his family. Disillusioned, Hay spent several years on the continent, and had to wait until Lauderdale’s death before becoming involved in politics. In 1689 he was made a Privy Counsellor and in 1695 Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. In 1704 he was Lord High Commissioner to the Scottish Parliament and Lord Chancellor of Scotland, although displaced soon afterwards. During the process of the Act of Union through Parliament, Tweeddale was the leader of the independents, occupying the middle ground between the pro-Government and pro-Jacobite parties, but he came down on the side of the Union, and without his decision the Act would not have been passed. He was then one of the sixteen inaugural Representative Peers in the House of Lords.

3^rd Marquess of Tweeddale, Charles Hay, b.c.1667, a.1713, d.1715

Son of the 2^nd Marquess and Lady Mary Maitland (b.1645, d.1702), daughter of John Maitland, 1^st Duke of Lauderdale. He was briefly Lord-Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire and a Representative Peer.

4^th Marquess of Tweedale, John Hay, b.c.1695, a.1715, d.1762

Son of the 3^rd Marquess and Susanna Hamilton (b.1667, d.1736-1737), daughter of Sir William Douglas-Hamilton, 1^st Earl of Selkirk (at the time she was the widow of John Cochrane, 2^nd Earl of Dundonald). He was made an Extraordinary Lord of Session in 1721, the last person ever to be granted that position. He was a Representative Peer from 1722 to 1734 and later from 1742 to 1762. In 1742 the position of Secretary of State for Scotland was revived and Tweeddale was appointed during this difficult time when the Jacobites were preparing for war. In 1746, the King refused to allow William Pitt to join the Government, causing several senior members, including the Prime Minister Henry Pelham, to resign. Tweeddale and the Earl Granville tried unsuccessfully to form a Government, and on the return of Pelham they were left out of the new administration. He was also Governor of the Bank of Scotland in 1742 and briefly held the post of Lord Justice General from 1761 until his death.

5^th Marquess of Tweeddale, George Hay, b.1758, a.1762, d.1770

Son of the 4^th Marquess and Lady Elizabeth Carteret (b.?, d.1788), daughter of Sir John Carteret, 2^nd Earl Granville.

6^th Marquess of Tweeddale, George Hay, b.c.1700, a.1770, d.1787

Younger brother of the 4^th Marquess. He succeeded late in life due to the early death of his nephew, and did not marry.

7^th Marquess of Tweeddale, George Hay, b.1753, a.1787, d.1804

Great-grandson of the 2^nd Marquess, grandson of Brigadier-General Lord William Hay (b.?, d.1723) and Margaret Hay (b.1686, d.1758) (from the family of the Baronets Hay of Linplum), and son of John Hay (b.?, d.1765) and Dorothy Hayhurst (b.?, d.1808). He was a Representative Peer and Lord-Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire. In 1802, he and his wife left for the Continent to improve his health. However, they were arrested in France after war was declared and died imprisoned at Verdun.

8^th Marquess of Tweeddale, George Hay, b.1787, a.1804, d.1876

Son of the 7^th Marquess and Lady Hannah Charlotte Maitland (b.?, d.1804), daughter of James Maitland, 7^th Earl of Lauderdale. He joined the army in 1804 and saw considerable action in Europe and Canada, reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 100^th Foot Regiment, and Lieutenant-General in 1854. In 1820 he was made a Knight of the Thistle and eventually reached the rank of Field Marshal, being Colonel of several regiments. He was Lord-Lieutenant of East Lothian from 1823 to 1876, and he was also Governor of Madras from 1842 to 1848. At home, he put considerable efforts into improving his estates, introducing better machinery, and was an accomplished boxer and athlete.

9^th Marquess of Tweedale, Arthur Hay, b.1824, a.1876, d.1878

Son of the 8^th Marquess and Lady Susan Montagu (b.1797, d.1870), daughter of William Montagu, 5^th Duke of Manchester. He joined the Grenadier Guards as a Lieutenant in 1841 and reached the rank of Captain in 1846, and was then promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1854 and Colonel in 1860, before transferring to the 17^th Lancers. He was a keen ornithologist and was President of the Zoological Society of London from 1868. He had no children.

10^th Marquess of Tweeddale, William Montagu Hay, b.1826, a.1878, d.1911

Younger brother of the 9^th Marquess. In 1881 he was created 1^st Baron Tweeddale of Yester in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

11^th Marquess of Tweeddale, William George Montagu Hay, b.1884, a.1911, d.1967

Son of the 10^th Marquess and Candida Louise Bartolucci (b.?, d.1925).

12^th Marquess of Tweeddale, David George Montagu Hay, b.1921, a.1967, d.1979

Nephew of the 11^th Marquess, being a son of his younger brother Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Edward Douglas John Hay (b.1888, d.1944) and Violet Florence Catherine Barclay (b.?, d.1926).

13^th Marquess of Tweeddale, Edward Douglas John Hay, b.1947, a.1979, d.2005

Son of the 12^th Marquess and Sonia Mary Peake (b.1924), daughter of Osbert Peake, 1^st Viscount Ingleby.

14^th Marquess of Tweeddale, Charles David Montagu Hay, b.1947, a.2005

Younger twin brother of the 13^th Marquess. As well as being 14^th Marquess, he is also 15^th Earl of Tweeddale, 13^th Earl of Gifford, 13^th Viscount of Walden, 22^nd Lord Hay of Yester and 5^th Baron Tweeddale.

The courtesy title for the heir is Viscount Walden.

(Last updated: 09/01/2010)