Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull (1710-87) was the eldest son of George Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull and his wife, Abigail, daughter of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford and gained some distinction as a classical scholar. After University, he accompanied his father, who was ambassador to Constantinople, on his journeys.

Politically, Hay had aligned himself with the Whigs. He was elected MP for Scarborough but was unseated in 1736. He later sat as MP for Cambridge in 1741 and was appointed Commissioner of the Revenues in Ireland. In the same year, he married Constantia, daughter and heir of John Kyrle-Ernlie of Whetham, Wiltshire, at Oxford Chapel, Marylebone. Dupplin quickly became a fixture in the administrations of Walpole, Pelham, and Newcastle, having become renowned for his competence in fiscal affairs, negotiation of government money matters and his generally accommodating nature. He was appointed Commissioner of Trade in 1746, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges and Elections in 1747, Lord of the Treasury in 1754, Joint Paymaster of the Forces in 1755, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and sworn of the Privy Council in 1758.

In 1762, he retired from his political career and returned to his family estate at Dupplin where he focused on improving the commercial management of his property. He was a convivial man, well-known among metropolitan literary circles, and well-acquainted with Lords Mansfield, Portland, Leeds, Rockingham, Seafield, Hopetoun and the Hardwickes. His character was well-known and he was famously satirised as Balbus in Alexander Pope’s Epistle to Dr John Arbuthnott. During his retirement, he also focused on public works including Smeaton’s Bridge across the Tay at Perth, and from 1765 he was Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, and elected President of the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge in 1768. He died at his home in Dupplin in 1787.

In 1761, Adam made some designs for a screen and gateway for the Earl of Kinnoull. King attributes these designs to the Earl’s London residence at Little Wallingford House, Whitehall. In Robert & James Adam’s Works, an engraving of the Admiralty Screen also shows a gated screen to the south (across Little Wallingford House) with a caption attributing the design and execution to Robert Adam for the Earl of Kinnoull. The screen, as shown in the engraving, bares little resemblance to the surviving preliminary design and finished drawing in the Soane Collection, other than the general roof line, number of bays, and use of balustrading, and must relate to a later, alternative design. The executed screen was demolished, probably at the same time as the house in 1786, when it was replaced with the new Admiralty House.

In 1769, the Adam office also made designs for some mirror frames for the Earl of Kinnoull, inscribed ‘Kenowle’. It is not clear where these were intended for and could possibly be for either Little Wallingford House, Whitehall or his Scottish residence, Dupplin House. Bolton also suggests Brodsworth Hall, Yorkshire and Balhousie Castle, Perth. In any case, it is not clear whether these frames were executed or not.

Literature: Adam, R & J., The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1778; A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, Index, 1922, pp. 55, 78; A. Rowan, Robert Adam: Catalogue of Architectural Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1988, p. 60; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 1, 2001, p. 296; Volume 2, 2001, p. 222; D. Allan, Hay, Thomas, ninth earl of Kinnoull (1710-1787), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004, online [accessed 1 December 2023]

Louisa Catt, 2023