James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll

James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll (20 April 1726 – 3 June 1778 (Chester Courant, 16 June 1778)) styled Lord Boyd from 1728 to 1746, was a Scottish nobleman and the son of William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock. After his father was attainted in 1746, he became Mr James Boyd, but in 1758 he inherited the Earldom of Erroll from his great-aunt Mary Hay, 14th Countess of Erroll.

Early life He was born James Boyd at Falkirk on 20 April 1726, the eldest son of William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, and his wife Lady Anne Livingston. She was the only daughter of James Livingston, 5th Earl of Linlithgow, a Jacobite attainted for his role in the 1715 Rising, and Lady Margaret Hay, the second daughter of John Hay, 12th Earl of Erroll. During the rout following the Jacobite defeat, the Earl of Kilmarnock was captured and taken prisoner, dishevelled and bareheaded, and was reportedly recognised by his son James, who placed his own hat on his father's head. This was the last time they were to meet, as Kilmarnock was then transported to London, tried for treason, and executed four months later; forfeiting all his lands and titles, which deprived his son of his inheritance.

Between 1770 and 1774, he served as a Tory Scottish representative peer in the House of Lords, and from 1770 to 1778, he was Lord of Police for Scotland. His widow died 3 November 1808.

Descendants Lord Erroll's grandson, William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, was created Baron Kilmarnock in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831.

Ancestry