Family History of Lord Hastings: War of American Independence, 1754-81
Chapter – 1
Francis Rawdon-Hastings, later Marquess of Hastings and Governor-General of India, was born on 9 December 1754. He was the eldest son of John Lord Rawdon and Lady Elizabeth Hastings, daughter of Theophilus, ninth Earl of Huntingdon. After the death of her brother, the tenth Earl, in 1789, Lady Elizabeth inherited many honours and all estates of the Hastings family, which later passed to Francis. He then added the surname Hastings to Rawdon, uniting the legacy of two distinguished families.
The Rawdon family traced its ancestry to Paulyn de Rawdon, said to have commanded archers at the Battle of Hastings and rewarded with large land grants in Yorkshire. The family retained influence there for generations, and their representative, Lord Loudoun, still possessed parts of William the Conqueror’s original grant.
George Rawdon, nineteenth in descent from Paulyn, settled in Ireland. He played an important military role during the rebellion of 1641 and later in Irish affairs. In 1665 he was created a Baronet of England as Sir George Rawdon of Moira, County Down, where his estates were located.
His son Sir Arthur Rawdon was notable during the troubles of 1688–89 for supporting William III. Sir Arthur’s great-grandson, Sir John Rawdon, was raised to the Irish peerage in 1750 as Baron Rawdon of Rawdon, County Down, and in 1761 became Earl of Moira. By his third marriage he had a son, Francis Rawdon, whose life is described in the passage.
The Hastings family originated from Robert, Portgrave of Hastings and steward to William the Conqueror. The elder branch gained prominence in early English history. John de Hastings became Seneschal of Aquitaine and in 1290 claimed the Scottish throne through descent from Ada, daughter of David Earl of Huntingdon and niece of Kings Malcolm IV and William the Lion.
John de Hastings’ grandson Laurence was created Earl Palatine of Pembroke in 1339 as heir of Aylmer de Valence. This title ended in 1389 with Laurence’s grandson, causing extinction of the elder Hastings branch. A younger branch, however, survived and rose again through Sir William de Hastings, born in 1430.