| Eldest son of George Hay, eighth earl of Kinnoull (1689–1758), and his wife, Abigail (d. 1750), second daughter of Robert Harley, first earl of Oxford and Mortimer. Hay was born at Dupplin House, near Perth on 4 June 1710. He entered politics in 1736 and was elected MP for Scarborough, though was unseated. He remained in politics until 1762, having earned a reputation for competence in fiscal affairs. From 1765 to 1787 he was Chancellor of the University of St Andrews; and President of the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge in 1768. He married Constantia (d. 1753), only daughter of John Kyrle-Ernlie of Whetham, Wiltshire. They had one child who died after one year in 1743. Hay died at Dupplin on 27 December 1787. His brother, Robert Hay Drummond, became the Archbishop of York in 1761. |
