THE BOYD/HAY FAMILY
James Boyd (1726-1778)
eldest surviving* son of William Boyd,
4th Earl
of Kilmarnock,
after the execution of his father for his part in the "Rising"
of 1745, sold
his Kilmarnock estates to his cousin, the Earl of
Glencairn.
He took up his residence in Slains Castle, Aberdeenshire,
Scotland. In
1758 his great aunt, Mary Hay, 14th Countess of Erroll,
died and left
no issue. James, as a grandson of the 5th Earl of
Linlithgow and
Margaret Hay, sister of Mary, succeeded to the title as
15th Earl of
Erroll. He thereupon changed his name from Boyd to Hay. He
later became
Grand Master Mason of Scotland. As Hereditary Lord High
Constable of
Scotland he officiated at the coronation of George III in
1761. He
was elected in 1770 as the Scot's Representative Peer. He
married first
Rebecca, daughter of Alexander Lockhart in 1749 and had
one daughter
Mary. He married Isabella Carr in 1762 and had nine
daughters and
two sons. The sons were the 16th and 17th Earls of Erroll
who succeeded
successively. His grandson, William George Hay, was
created peer
of the United Kingdom as Baron Kilmarnock in 1831 after the
accession of
William IV to the throne of England. William George had
married a natural
daughter of the Duke of Clarence who became King of
Great Britain
as William IV in 1830. In 1941 Gilbert Alan Rowland Hay,
brother of the
22nd Earl succeeded as 6th Baron Kilmarnock. The Earldom
of Erroll could
devolve through the female line whereas the Barony of
Kilmarnock could
not. Diana Denyse Hay succeeded as 23rd Countess of
Erroll on the
death of her father in 1941.
*The 4th Earl William Boyd's first son William Boyd died at three years of age.
James (BOYD) Hay 15th Earl of Erroll
George Hay 1767-1798 16th Earl of Erroll
William Hay 1772- 17th Earl of Erroll
William George Hay 1801-1846 18th Earl of Erroll 1st Baron Kilmarnock
William Henry Hay 1823-1891 19th Earl of Erroll 2nd Baron Kilmarnock
Charles Gore Hay 1852-1930 20th Earl of Erroll 3rd Baron Kilmarnock
Victor A. Serald Hay 1876-1928 21st Earl of Erroll 4th Baron Kilmarnock
Josslyn Victor
Hay 1901-1941 22nd Earl of Erroll
5th Baron Kilmarnock
(Died in Kenya,
Africa without male issue).
Since Josslyn Victor Hay died without male issue, and because the Barony
of
Kilmarnock could only fall to male descendants, Josslyn's daughter became
23rd countess of Errol and Gilbert Allan Roland Hay became 6th Baron Kilmarnock.
Diana Denyse Hay b. 1926 23rd Countess of Erroll
Gilbert Alan Rowland Hay (Boyd) 6th Baron Kilmarnock
Alistair Ivor Gilbert Boyd 7th Baron Kilmarnock
Gilbert Alan Rowland
Hay, brother to Josslyn V. Hay succeeded as 6th
Baron Kilmarnock
and changed his name back to Boyd the surname
of his
ancestors. His
son Alistair Ivor Gilbert Boyd succeeded as 7th Baron
Kilmarnock on
the death of his father in 1975 and is currently Chief of
the Boyds. This
shows that the modern day Hay (Erroll) family are
descendants of the 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, William Boyd.
Because of the
laws of succession, Robin Jordan Boyd, brother of Alastair
will inherit
the Barony and become 8th Baron Kilmanock.