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Robert Hodshon Cay FSSA LLD (1758-1810) was Judge Admiral of Scotland overseeing naval trials. He was husband of the artist Elizabeth Liddell, father of John Cay FRSE and maternal grandfather of James Clerk Maxwell.
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Life
Cay was born on 7 July 1758 at Charlton Hall in North Charlton in Northumberland, the son of John Cay DL JP and Frances Hodshon of Lintz.
In 1776 he is recorded as winning a gold medal for horsemanship at the Edinburgh Riding School.
He studied Law at Glasgow University graduating in 1778 and being admitted to the Scottish Bar in 1780. By 1800 he had risen to be the principal judge in the High Court of the Admiralty in Scotland (usually termed Judge Admiral). In 1788 he was also created a Commissary of Edinburgh.
In 1793 he moved to 1 George Street, occupying the upper two levels of an imposing Georgian tenement on the corner of St Andrew Square in Edinburgh’s First New Town. The house is now demolished. He was a Trustee of Charlotte Chapel on Rose Street and can be presumed to have worshipped there. He is known to have been a friend of Rev Daniel Sandford who oversaw worship at the chapel. He was a member of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries.
Edinburgh University granted him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1803. In this year he moved to 11 Heriot Row (then a brand new house).
He died at home, 11 Heriot Row in Edinburgh on 31 March 1810. His principal estate remainder Charlton Hall in Northumberland which he had inherited from his father.
Artistic Recognition
Cay was painted by Sir Henry Raeburn. This portrait now lies in the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. A copy of this by Isabella Cay (1850-1934) (thought to be his grand-daughter) exists in the James Clerk Maxwell Museum.
Family
On 26 September 1789 he married Elizabeth Liddell. Their children were: