Post Captain
Hans Francis Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon (14 August 1779 – 9 December 1828) was a British
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
officer.
Hastings, the fourth and only surviving son of George Hastings (1734/5–1802) and his wife, Sarah (daughter of Sir Richard Fowler, Bt) was born in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. He was educated at
Repton SchoolRepton School, founded in 1557, is a British independent school located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, England. Some of the remains of the oldest buildings date back to the 6th century.- History :...
,
DerbyshireDerbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains...
, from 1787 to 1790 and at John Bettesworth's academy at
ChelseaChelsea is an area of south-west London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe...
, from 1790 to 1793. Early in 1793, he began his naval career under Sir John Borlase Warren, Bt, then captain of the
Flora. During the
Seven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War lasted between 1754 and 1763 and involved all of the major European powers of the period. The war pitted Prussia and Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony...
, he took part in the action off Cancale Bay,
BrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Brittany was previously a kingdom and then as a duchy it was a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was at one time called Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, in April 1794, and in the following year was wounded in the
Battle of Quiberon BayThe naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire...
. After having served six years with Warren, he was appointed acting
lieutenantLieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service, emergency medical services or police officer rank....
in the brig
Sylph, and subsequently received his commission as
second lieutenantSecond Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.In British English the rank is pronounced second /lɛf'tɛnənt/ , while in American English it is pronounced second /lu'tɛnənt/ ....
of the
Racoon. Early in 1800, he was appointed
first lieutenantFirst Lieutenant is a military rank.The rank of Lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
of the
Thisbe, in which he accompanied the Expedition to Egypt. He was afterwards appointed second lieutenant of the
Aigle. On 12 May 1803, at St Anne's,
SohoSoho is an area in the centre of the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is an entertainment district which for much of the later part of the 20th century had a reputation for its sex shops as well as its night life and film industry...
, he married Frances (1780/81–1820), third daughter of the Revd Richard Chaloner Cobbe, rector of
Great MarlowGreat Marlow is a civil parish within Wycombe district in the English county of Buckinghamshire located north of the town of Marlow and south of High Wycombe....
,
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes....
; they had ten children, including
George Fowler HastingsVice-Admiral George Fowler Hastings CB was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the First Opium War and the Crimean War. In a naval career spanning over 50 years Hastings saw service across the British Empire, and rose to the rank of vice-admiral...
.
At the outbreak of war in 1803, Hastings was sent to Weymouth Roads to impress seamen. His party was attacked by protesters, and seventeen of his men were wounded and three of their assailants killed. Upon landing at Weymouth, he was seized and committed by the mayor, on the charge of murder, to Dorchester gaol. After six weeks in prison, he was removed by
habeas corpusHabeas corpus is a legal action, or writ, through which a person can seek relief from the unlawful detention of him or herself, or of another person. It protects the individual from harming him or herself, or from being harmed by the judicial system...
to
WestminsterWestminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, when he was bailed out by his relative,
Lord MoiraFrancis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings KG PC , styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762 and as The Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783 and known as The Earl of Moira between 1793 and 1816, was a British politician and military officer who served as Governor-General of...
, and was subsequently acquitted at the Dorchester summer assizes. From the
Aigle, Hastings joined the
Diamond, and afterwards served as second lieutenant on the
AudaciousHMS Audacious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 July 1785 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship to bear the name....
, and as flag lieutenant on the
HiberniaHMS Hibernia was a 110-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Plymouth dockyard on 17 November 1804, and was the only ship built to her draught, designed by Sir John Henslow....
. On his refusal to go out to the West Indies, where two of his brothers had died, he was appointed acting ordnance barrackmaster in the
Isle of WightThe Isle of Wight is an English island and a county, located 3-5 miles from the south coast of the mainland, in the English Channel. It is separated from mainland England by the Solent and is situated south of the county of Hampshire...
, and in 1808 was promoted to the post of ordnance storekeeper in
EnniskillenEnniskillen is the county town in County Fermanagh. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
, where he lived for more than nine years.
When the
10th EarlFrancis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon PC was a British peer; the son of the 9th Earl of Huntingdon and his wife, Selina. Hastings succeeded as Earl of Huntingdon and Baron Botreaux on his father's demise in 1746...
died in October 1789, the
earldom of HuntingdonEarl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The title is associated with the ruling house of Scotland, and latterly with the Hastings family....
became dormant, while the ancient baronies of Hastings devolved upon his elder sister, the
Dowager Countess of MoiraElizabeth Rawdon, Countess of Moira, 16th Baroness Botreaux, 15th Baroness Hungerford, 13th Baroness de Moleyns, 13th Baroness Hastings and 12th Baroness Hastings was a literary patron and antiquarian.Born Lady Elizabeth Hastings at Donington Park, Leicestershire, she was the eldest surviving...
, third wife and widow of
John Rawdon, 1st Earl of MoiraJohn Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira was an Irish peer. He was the only son of Sir John Rawdon, 3rd Baronet and Dorothy Levinge....
. Although Revd. Theophilus Henry Hastings (the uncle of Hans) assumed the title of Earl of Huntingdon, to which he was entitled by his descent from the
2nd EarlFrancis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon was the eldest son of George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon, the ex-mistress of Henry VIII....
, he never took any steps to prove his right. Upon the death of his uncle in April 1804, Hastings made some attempt to investigate his claim to the earldom, but was soon compelled to abandon it for want of money. In July 1817, his friend, Henry Nugent Bell, took up the case, and it was mainly owing to his exertions that the
Attorney GeneralHer Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, Sir Samuel Shepherd, reported on 29 October 1818 that Hastings had "sufficiently proved his right to the title of Earl of Huntingdon". On 14 January 1819, he took his seat in the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
, where, as a
ToryThe Tories were members of two political parties which existed, sequentially, in the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain and later the United Kingdom from the 17th to the early 19th centuries.-Overview:...
, he does not appear to have taken any part in the debates. Though successful in his claim to the earldom, he failed to recover the
LeicestershireLeicestershire or , abbreviation Leics.is a landlocked county in central England. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
estates, which formerly went with the title. On 28 September 1820, he married his second wife, Eliza Mary Thistlethwayte,
née Bettesworth (c.1780-1846), eldest daughter of Joseph Bettesworth of
RydeRyde is a British seaside town, civil parish and the most populous town and urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30,000. It is situated on the north-east coast. The town grew in size as a seaside resort following the joining of the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower...
, Isle of Wight, and widow of Alexander Thistlethwayte of
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
; they had no children.
On 7 March 1821, Huntingdon obtained the rank of
commanderCommander is a military rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service...
and the command of the
ChanticleerHMS Chanticleer was a Cherokee class 10-gun brig of the Royal Navy. Chanticleer was built by Daniel List at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, where she was launched on 26 July 1808, weighing in with a displacement of 237 tons. Her initial base was Great Yarmouth...
. While cruising in the Mediterranean, he was appointed Governor of Dominica on 13 December 1821, and took the oaths of office on 28 March 1822. In 1824, because of a misunderstanding with the other authorities on the island, he resigned and returned home. He was promoted to post captain on 29 May 1824, and on 14 August, was appointed to command the
Valorous. Illness compelled him to relinquish his command in the West Indies. He returned to England in May 1828 and died at Green Park,
YoughalYoughal is a seaport in County Cork, Ireland. Youghal is located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, and in the past was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout...
,
County CorkCounty Cork is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Munster, and was named after the city of Cork...
on 9 December of that year, aged 49. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Francis Theophilus Henry Hastings. On 26 April 1838, his widow married her third husband, Colonel Sir Thomas Noel Harris; she died at
Boulogne-sur-MerBoulogne-sur-Mer is a city in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city was 44,859 in the 1999 census, whereas that of the whole metropolitan area was 135,116.-Name:...
.
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