George Hay, Earl of Gifford explained

George Hay, Earl of Gifford
Office1:Member of Parliament for Totnes
Term1:1855-1862
Party:Liberal Party
Birth Date:26 April 1822
Birth Place:Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland
Death Place:Highgate, London, England
Education:Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Father:George Hay
Relatives:Susan Hay (sister)
Elizabeth Hay (sister)
Arthur Hay (brother)
William Hay (brother)
John Hay (brother)
Emily Hay (sister)
Module:
Embed:yes
Rank:Captain
Unit:East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry

George Hay, Earl of Gifford (26 April 1822  - 22 December 1862) was a British Liberal Party[1] politician.

Biography

Lord Gifford was born at Yester House, the eldest son of the 8th Marquess of Tweeddale. He was educated at Trinity College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was president of the University Pitt Club.[2] In 1850, he was a Captain in the East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry and became Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for War (The Duke of Newcastle) in 1854. A year later, he entered Parliament as MP for Totnes (a seat he held until his death).

In 1861, Lord Gifford was involved in an accident whilst rescuing a workman about to be crushed by a tree the latter was cutting down in the grounds of Yester Castle. Because of the accident, the Dowager Baroness Dufferin and Claneboye (a close friend of his who previously refused his proposals) agreed to marry Lord Gifford and they did so at Dufferin Lodge, Highgate on 13 October 1862.

After sixteen months of suffering as a result of the accident, Lord Gifford died on 22 December 1862 at Dufferin Lodge.[3] He was buried at St James the Great, Friern Barnet.[4] As he and his wife did not have any children, his brother, Lord Arthur Hay became the heir to their father's titles and estate.

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Book: Craig , F. W. S. . F. W. S. Craig . British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 . 1977 . 2nd . 1989 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-26-4 . 310–311.
  2. Book: Fletcher . Walter Morley . Walter Morley Fletcher . The University Pitt Club: 1835-1935 . First Paperback . 2011 . 1935 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 978-1-107-60006-5 . 77 .
  3. Inverness Courier 25 December 1862 p. 8.
  4. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuc.3465163_001&seq=149&q1=gifford The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol III - Cansick 1875.