Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair (20 February 1787 -, 19 January 1861) came to St Andrews in 1834 and was subsequently Provost; in his time, St Andrews "was transformed into a thriving modern burgh".
His parents were the Reverend James Playfair and Margaret Lyon. He married Jane Dalgelish, daughter of William Dalgelish, on 10 July 1809.
He was educated at St. Andrews University and was commissioned in 1804 in the Bengal Horse Artillery. In 1834 he retired to St Andrews where he was Provost from 1842 till his death in 1861.
In 1856 he became a Knight Bachelor, and in the same year was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) by St. Andrews University. He revived the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews.
L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972)