Occupation Programmer | Name Merlin 24th Role Hereditary peer | |
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Born Merlin Sereld Victor Gilbert Hay 20 April 1948 (age 76) ( 1948-04-20 ) Spouse(s) Isabelle (nee Astell), Countess of Erroll Parents Diana Hay, 23rd Countess of Erroll, Iain Moncreiffe Grandparents Lady Idina Sackville, Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll Similar People Diana Hay - 23rd Countess, Josslyn Hay - 22nd Earl of Err, Lady Idina Sackville, Iain Moncreiffe | ||
Merlin Sereld Victor Gilbert Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll (born 20 April 1948) is a crossbench member of the House of Lords, Chief of the Scottish clan Hay, and hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland.
Contents
- Early life and education
- Earl of Erroll
- Marriage and family
- Military and business career
- Politics
- References
Early life and education
Lord Erroll is the son of Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk and Diana, Countess of Erroll. He was page to the Lord Lyon in 1956. He was educated at Eton College and at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Earl of Erroll
He succeeded his mother, the countess, in 1978 as Earl of Erroll, and in 1985, his father as a Baronet. He is a member of the Council of the Hereditary Peerage Association. As Lord Erroll was Chief of Clan Hay by virtue of his mother's title, his younger brother Peregrine took over from their father as Chief of Clan Moncreiffe.
Marriage and family
He married Isabelle Jacqueline Laline Astell Hohler (b. Brussels, 22 August 1955), daughter of Major Thomas Sidney Hohler and heiress to the family of Astell, of Everton House, Bedfordshire, in 1982. The Countess is a patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball and served as High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 2015.
The couple has two sons and two daughters:
Military and business career
The Earl of Erroll has been a lieutenant at the Atholl Highlanders since 1974, and is a Member of the Royal Company of Archers. He served in the 21st SAS Artists Rifles (V) Territorial Army from 1975 to 1990, and was an Honorary Colonel of the Royal Military Police (Territorial Army) from 1992 to 1997.
Erroll has worked as a marketing and computer consultant, is a Freeman of the City of London and a Member of the Court of Assistants of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, of which he was Prime Warden in 2000–2001. He continues to head the club, Puffin's Club, founded by his father. He is also President of ERADAR the Chamber for Electronic Business, and Chairman of the Digital Policy Alliance (EURIM).
He is a director of Lasseo, a not-for-profit technical standardization and interoperability membership organisation for smartcard technologies.
Politics
Lord Erroll was one of 90 excepted hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords following the House of Lords Act 1999. A programmer and system designer by trade he sits as a crossbencher and usually speaks on matters relating to cybersecurity and information technology. He was a member of the Science and Technology Committee and criticised Tony Blair's government for the failure to curb cyber crime after various government agencies, including the Ministry of Defence and HM Revenue and Customs, reported massive losses of data in 2008. Most recently he was a member of the Information Committee from 2007 to 2012.