Sir Robert Hay, 8th Baronet
Sir Robert Hay, 8th Baronet of Smithfield and Haystoun DL JP was a Scottish baronet.
Early life
Hay was born on 8 May 1825. He was the son of Sir Adam Hay, 7th Baronet and Henrietta Callender Grant. His father served as MP for Lanark Burghs from 1826 to 1830. Among his surviving siblings were Dorothea Hay and Louisa Grace Hay.His father, the second surviving son of Sir John Hay, 5th Baronet and Hon. Mary Elizabeth Forbes, succeeded to the baronetcy after the death of his brother, Sir John Hay, 6th Baronet, MP for Peeblesshire. His maternal grandparents were William Grant and Dorothea Dalrymple. His aunt, Louisa Grant, was the wife of the Hon. William Keith-Falconer.
Career
Upon the death of his father on 18 January 1867, he succeeded as the 8th Baronet Hay, of Smithfield and Haystoun. His seat was Kings Meadow, Haystown, Peebles, and he was a member of the Carlton and Marlborough Clubs.Sir Robert served as a Deputy Lieutenant and Magistrate for Peeblesshire, and a Major in the Midlothian Rifle Volunteers.
Personal life
In August 1853 married Sarah "Sally" Duncan, a daughter of Sarah Duncan and Alexander Duncan. Her father was originally from Parkhill Arbroath, Scotland but moved to America, attended Yale University, and settled in Providence, Rhode Island. Sally was sister to W. Butler Duncan, a prominent banker and railroad executive. Before his death in 1885, they were the parents of:- Sir John Adam Hay, 9th Baronet, who married Anne Milliken-Napier, daughter of Sir Robert Milliken-Napier, 9th Baronet, in 1881.
- Alexander Duncan Hay, a Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery who died unmarried while hunting in Leicestershire.
- Athole Stanhope Hay, who married Caroline Margaret Cunard, daughter of Sir Edward Cunard, 2nd Baronet, in 1890.
- Henrietta Louisa Hay, who died unmarried.
- Robert Butler Hay, who married Ella Bulkeley-Johnson, daughter of Francis Bulkeley Johnson, in 1899.
- Adele Hay, who married her first cousin, Hon. Charles Hay Scudamore-Stanhope in 1900.