John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale
John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale PC was a Scottish nobleman.
Early life
Hay was the eldest son of John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale and his wife, Lady Jean Scott, daughter of Walter Scott, 1st Earl of Buccleuch. His younger siblings were Lord David Hay of Belton, Lord Alexander Hay of Spott, Lady Margaret Hay, and Lady Jean Hay.His paternal grandparents were John Hay, 1st Earl of Tweeddale and, his first wife, Lady Jean Seton. His maternal grandparents were Walter Scott, 1st Earl of Buccleuch and Lady Mary Hay.
Career
He was Colonel of the Militia Regiment of Foot in Co Haddington and Linlithgow and Peebles. He was Burgess of Edinburgh, Commissioner for the Borders, Commissioner of Supply for Haddington, Peebles, Edinburgh, Fife, Berwick ; Colonel of the East Lothian Regiment, Captain of the Militia Horse for Haddington and Berwick, Privy Councillor of Scotland, Sheriff of Haddington from 1694 to 1713, and Commissioner of the Admiralty . He was also Lord Treasurer in 1695. He succeeded his father in the marquessate in 1697.Tweeddale was elected to the court of directors of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies in March 1698. He was one of the principal leaders of the Country Party and used his involvement in the affairs of the Company to pursue his political agenda. On 25th March 1699, he and John Haldane of Gleneagles presented a National Address on behalf of the Company to William III & II in London. He was suspected of being an instigator of the Toubacanti riot in Edinburgh on 20th June 1700.
He was appointed Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland in 1704, and was Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1704 to 1705. He led the Squadrone Volante, but ultimately supported the [Act of Act of Union 1707|Union 1707|Union]. In October 1706, he was appointed to the Scottish parliamentary committee which scrutinised the Equivalent, the compensation to be paid to Scottish beneficiaries under the Union settlement, the largest group of which were the shareholders and creditors of the Company of Scotland. He was appointed one of 16 Scottish representative peers in 1707.
He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1666 but was expelled in 1685.
Personal life
In 1666, he married Lady Mary Maitland at Highgate in London. Lady Mary was a daughter of John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale and the former Anne Home. However, Lauderdale set himself against Hay, who was forced to leave for the continent and did not regain his position until Lauderdale's death in 1682. Together, they were the parents of:- Charles Hay, 3rd Marquess of Tweeddale, who married Lady Susan Cochrane, the widow of John Cochrane, 2nd Earl of Dundonald who was the second daughter of William Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, and Anne Hamilton, suo jure Duchess of Hamilton.
- Lord John Hay, who commanded the famous regiment of dragoons, afterwards called the Scots Greys, at the Battle of Ramillies; he married Lady Elizabeth Dalzell, only child of James Dalzell, 3rd Earl of Carnwath, and, after her death, Elizabeth Orby, a daughter of Sir Thomas Orby, Bt.
- Lord William Hay of Newhall, a Brig.-Gen. who married his cousin Margaret Hay, only child of John Hay and Jean Foulis.
- Lady Anne Hay, who married, as his third wife, William Ross, 12th Lord Ross.
- Lady Jean Hay, who married John Hamilton-Leslie, 9th Earl of Rothes, in 1697.