Hay, Robert

British traveller, antiquarian, and collector. Born, Duns Castle, Berwickshire 1799. Died, Amisfield House, East Lothian 1863. Began a career as a midshipman, and whilst employed as such, visited Alexandria in 1818. In 1819 he unexpectedly inherited the family estate of Linplum following the death of his elder brother. With resources now at his disposal he was able to indulge in his passion for travelling, and spent much time in the Middle East, visiting Egypt in 1824-8 and 1829-34. He was accompanied at various times by several eminent artists, including F. V. J. Arundale, J. Bonomi, O. B. Carter, F. Catherwood, A. Dupuy, G. A. Hoskins, E. W. Lane, and C. Laver. He published Illustrations of Cairo (1840), which contained lithographs of his own drawings and well of those artists he travelled with, but the book made a huge loss due to poor sales, which subsequently curtailed Hay's ambitions to publish more of his work.

• Who Was Who in Egyptology (4th ed. 2012), 246-7 fig. (portrait).