The Hays of Banff

Glack of Achlichnie (lower mid)

James Hay 1736 was from Glack in the parish of Kirkmichael and Tomintoul in Banff. As you can see from this map it’s really close to Glenlivet, home of the famous distillery.

The Moffats are linked to James Hay through Robert Neil Wedderburn 1831. His mother was Barbara Hay 1798, daughter of Robert Hay 1774.

There is huge confusion on Ancestry.com regarding Robert’s heritage. He was 28 when he was convicted of sheep stealing and exiled to Tasmania, where he became a local leader. His Tasmanian descendants claim that he is linked to the noble Hay family of Scotland.

His parents were likely James Hay 1736 and Ann Riach c 1738.

The big mystery is who James’ father was. The James Hay b 1736 was born to Lewis Hay and Margaret Watson.

The Tasmanian family believe that Lewis was the son of Brigadier-General Lord William Hay of Newhall c 1668. William and his wife Margaret Hay had 13 kids and George Lewis Hay 1716 was the sixth son so low down on the pecking order as far as inheriting land. Younger sons typically went into the military so maybe Lewis/Lowis/Ludowick was in Banff for that reason?

Lewis is not a common name which makes things easier. There are two births to a Lewis Hay in Banff at this time, and two to a Ludowick - all four have mothers with the surname Watson but three are Isobel and one is Margaret. People often used a name different from their birth name so maybe they are the same woman.

In llanbryd the minister wrote Lewis as “Ludowick” and in Inveravon “Lewis”. There is a high probability that Lewis Hay is the father of all four children, but there is big gap of nine years between James’ birth and his next sibling Barbara Hay 1745.

So the question is: Who is Lewis Hay?