John Hay

The Reverend John Hay, son of the 7th Earl of Kinnoull, is buried in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey. On the wall is a mural monument by the sculptor Michael Rysbrack, dated 1754. The Latin inscription can be translated:

To John Hay, third son of George, Earl of Kinnoull, priest of the Church of England: although a man of illustrious lineage, outstanding ability and multi-faceted learning, he retained his modesty and simplicity. He cultivated virtue, not with ostentatious strictness but with a pleasing and gracious innocence: at the same time, he was seen both to follow his own natural genius and to put calumny to flight by the rare felicity of his manners, which enabled him to win general approbation. Having borne courageously the distress of lingering disease, he finally made good his escape, full of Christian faith. It means much to his grieving friends that such great virtues now promote his lone memory: his memory, which will not be unfruitful to you, O reader, should you be seeking a pattern, rather than pleasure, among these tombs.

Born in 1719 he spent five years in the College of Westminster, was enrolled as a pupil at Christ Church, Oxford, and, by royal patronage, became rector of Epworth in Lincolnshire. He died in 1751. This stone was placed here, to the best of brothers, by Thomas, Viscount of Dupplin and Robert, Bishop of Asaph

John died unmarried. His mother was Lady Abigail Harley, sister of the Earl of Oxford. His sisters were Margaret, Elizabeth, Anne, Abigail, Henrietta and Mary. Brother Thomas became 8th Earl of Kinnoull and was Lord of the Treasury and Ambassador Extraordinary to Portugal. Brother Robert Hay-Drummond was a prebendary of Westminster 1743-1748 and later Bishop of St Asaph and Archbishop of York. Robert's son Thomas Auriol Drummond died aged 21 and was buried on 10th April 1773 in the south cloister near John's monument. He had attended Westminster School and his mother was Henrietta (daughter of London merchant Peter Auriol).