Henry HASTINGS

(5th E. Huntingdon)

 

Born: 24 Apr 1586

Christened: 17 May 1586, Exton, Rutland

Died: 14 Nov 1643, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Buried: 16 Dec 1643, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Notes: The Complete Peerage vol.VI,p.658.

Father: Francis HASTINGS (B. Hastings)

Mother: Sarah HARRINGTON (B. Hastings / B. Zouche of Harryngworth)

Married: Elizabeth STANLEY (C. Huntingdon) 15 Jan 1601, Stonely, Stafford

Children:

1. Ferdinando HASTINGS (6° E. Huntingdon) (b. 18 Jan 1608 - d. 1655) (m. Lucy Davies)

2. Alice HASTINGS (d. 1667) (m. Sir Gervase Clifton of Clifton Hall)

3. Elizabeth HASTINGS (m. Sir Hugh Calveley of Lea)

4. Henry HASTINGS (1º B. Hastings of Loughborough) (b. 1610 – d. 1666)

5. Mary HASTINGS (b. 1612 – d. 1660) (m. Sir John Gerrard)

Educated at Gray's Inn. Though a recognized leader of the Puritan movement and a critic of the policies of the House of Stuart, Hastings was also a patron of stage drama, comparable to his contemporaries the Earls of Pembroke - William Herbert, 3rd Earl and Phillip Herbert, 4th Earl. Hastings was known as the most important aristocratic patron of the playwrights Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. (Hastings and Beaumont were distant cousins). Hastings patronized other dramatists of the era as well, including John Marston. In 1595, Henry's father, Francis, died, and Hastings was next to succeed his grandfather, George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon, which on 31 Dec 1604, he did. In 1607, at the age of 21, Hastings commanded forces in the suppression of the Midlands Revolt.

Throughout his maturity he served in a wide range of offices in the counties of Leicestershire, Lancashire, and Rutland, including Lord Lieutenant of Leicester and Rutland, 1614–42. He was also a member of the Virginia Company.

On 15 Jan 1601, he married Elizabeth Stanley (b. 1588 – d. 1633), the third and youngest daughter of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby and Alice Spencer. His wife was a great-great-granddaughter of Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk. She, at one time, was third-in-line to succeed to the throne of England. However, she and her two older sisters were passed over for James VI of Scotland.

They maintained their country seat at Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire.

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