George Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull

Who was George Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull?

George Henry Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull was a British peer and diplomat.

He was the son of Thomas Hay, 7th Earl of Kinnoull.

In 1710, George Hay became the Member of Parliament for Fowey until 1711 and was created Baron Hay of Pedwardine, Herefordshire. He then became the Teller of the Exchequer between 1711 and 1714. In 1713 he bought Brodsworth Hall, Yorkshire from the Wentworth family and rebuilt the house.

In 1715 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for suspected Jacobite sympathies, but was bailed in 1717. He succeeded to the title of 8th Viscount of Dupplin on 5 January 1718/19. On 5 January 1718 he succeeded to the title of 8th Lord Hay of Kinfauns. In 1720 he lost heavily in the South Sea Bubble. From 1729 to 1734, the Earl was British ambassador to the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1712.

He died in Ashford, Yorkshire. He had married Abigail, daughter of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer c.1709. He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas Hay. His younger son Robert became Archbishop of York.