George Woodyatt Hastings (25 September 1825 – 21 October 1917) was an English Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1892.

Life

Hastings was the only son of Sir Charles Hastings, M.D., D.C.L., founder of the British Medical Association, of Barnard's Green, Malvern, and his wife Hannah Woodyatt. He was a relation of Warren Hastings (1732–1818) Governor of Bengal from 1772. The family had owned the estate of Daylesford in Gloucestershire from the 12th century. Hastings was educated at Bromsgrove School and at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

. In 1850, he was called to the bar at Middle Temple. He was secretary of the Law Amendment Society and Hon. secretary of the National Reformatory Union. From 1857 to 1868, he was General Secretary of the National Association for Promotion of Social Science, and was Chairman of their Council from 1868 to 1883. He was chairman of Worcester School Board from 1871 to 1883. He was a J.P. and vice-chairman of Quarter Sessions for Worcestershire, and a J.P. and a Deputy Lieutenant of Herefordshire. Hastings stood for parliament unsuccessfully in Beverley at by-election in 1854, and in

West Worcestershire West Worcestershire is a constituency in Worcestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Harriett Baldwin, a Conservative. The constituency is considered a safe seat for the Conservatives. The constituency b ...

at the 1874 general election. At the 1880 general election he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worcestershire, and was re-elected in

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

and as a Liberal Unionist in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

. He held the seat until 1892, when he was expelled from the House of Commons and convicted of fraudulent conversion. As a Trustee for property under the will of John Brown, he had appropriated over £20,000 from the estate, leaving Brown's four children with £7,000. Hastings married firstly Catherine Anna Mence, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Mence, rector of Ulcombe Kent in 1858. She died in 1871 and he married again in 1877 to Frances Anna Pillans, daughter of the Rev. William Huntingdon Pillans, Rector of Himley. His son Major William George Warren Hastings married Hazel Hastings in 1919. He died on 21 October 1917 aged 92.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, George 1825 births 1917 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge British politicians convicted of fraud Deputy Lieutenants of Herefordshire English fraudsters English politicians convicted of crimes Expelled members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Members of the Middle Temple People educated at Bromsgrove School UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 19th-century English businesspeople