Biography of Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings 1842-1868

Paternal Family Tree: Rawdon

Maternal Family Tree: Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings 1810-1858

On 29 Oct 1810 [his grandfather] Henry Gould Yelverton 19th Baron Grey Ruthyn (age 30) died without male issue. His daughter [his mother] Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings succeeded 20th Baroness Grey of Ruthyn aged seven months.

On 28 Nov 1826 [his grandfather] Francis Rawdon-Hastings 1st Marquess Hastings (age 71) died. His son [his father] George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings 2nd Marquess Hastings (age 18) succeeded 2nd Marquess Hastings, 3rd Earl Moira, 18th Baron Botreaux, 17th Baron Hungerford, 15th Baron Moleyns and 15th Baron Hastings. [his mother] Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings (age 16) by marriage Marchioness Hastings.

On 01 Aug 1831 [his father] George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings 2nd Marquess Hastings (age 23) and [his mother] Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings (age 21) were married. He the son of Francis Rawdon-Hastings 1st Marquess Hastings and Flora Mure-Campbell Marchioness of Hastings (age 51).

On 08 Jan 1840 [his grandmother] Flora Mure-Campbell Marchioness of Hastings (age 60) died. Her son [his father] George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings 2nd Marquess Hastings (age 31) succeeded 7th Earl Loudon.

On 22 Jul 1842 Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings was born to George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings 2nd Marquess Hastings (age 34) and Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings (age 32).

Adeline Horsey Recollections. We usually spent Christmas at Beaudesert, Lord Anglesey's (age 75) lovely old place. We were always a merry party, and we dined in the large hall, which is one of the chief features of the house. Lord Anglesey (age 75) was very fond of me, and used to write to me as "My dear Prima Donna!" Some of the friends staying at Beaudesert were Lord (age 38) and Lady Sydney (age 33), Lord (age 52) and Lady Winchilsea, Lord (age 25) and Lady Desart (age 22), Lord Anson (age 48), Lord Ward, M. and Madame Dietrichstein, and the Duke of Northumberland (age 51), then Lord Percy. In 1846 I was bridesmaid to [his future sister-in-law] Lady Constance Paget (age 20), who married Lord Winchilsea (age 28); and my great friend, [his future wife] Florence Paget (age 1), afterwards married the last Marquis of Hastings (age 1).

On 17 Jan 1851 [his brother] Paulyn Reginald Serlo Rawdon-Hastings 3rd Marquess Hastings (age 18) died. His brother Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings (age 8) succeeded 4th Marquess Hastings, 9th Earl Loudon, 5th Earl Moira, 21st Baron Grey of Ruthyn, 20th Baron Botreaux, 19th Baron Hungerford, 17th Baron Moleyns and 17th Baron Hastings. [his future wife] Florence Cecilia Paget Marchioness Hastings (age 8) by marriage Marchioness Hastings.

On 30 Jul 1858 Charles Abney-Hastings 2nd Baronet (age 65) died. Baronet Hastings of Willesley Hall in Derbyshire extinct. His estates of Blackfordby and Packington were inherited by Henry 4th Marquess Hastings (age 16). Willesley Hall and its estate were left to [his sister] Edith Maud Rawdon-Hastings 10th Countess Loudon (age 24) and her husband Charles Frederick Abney-Hastings 1st Baron Donington (age 36) who changed his surname to Abney-Hastings.

On 18 Nov 1858 [his mother] Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings (age 48) died.

In 1864 Henry Chaplin 1st Viscount Chaplin (age 23) and [his future wife] Florence Paget (age 21) were engaged to be married; the King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (age 22) offered his congratulations. However, during their engagement Florence had secretly fallen in love with Henry Rawdon-Hastings, 4th Marquess of Hastings (age 21). Just before her wedding, she had Chaplin take her to Marshall & Snelgrove's on Oxford Street to add to her wedding outfit. While Chaplin waited in the carriage outside, Florence walked straight through the shop and out to the other side, where Hastings waited for her in a carriage. Hastings and Florence were married on the same day.

Henry Chaplin A Memoir: Youth VI. [his future wife] Lady Florence (age 21) had kept her secret well. The letter which reached Mr. Chaplin (age 23) at his rooms in Park Lane was an overwhelming surprise.

July 1864, Saturday.

HARRY—To you whom I have injured more deeply than any one, I hardly know how to address myself. Believe me, the task is most painful and one I shrink from. Would to God I had had moral courage to open my heart to you sooner, but I could not bring myself to do so. However, now the truth must be told. Nothing in the world can ever excuse my conduct. I have treated you too infamously, but I sincerely trust the knowledge of my unworthiness will help you to bear the bitter blow I am about to inflict on you.

I know I ought never to have accepted you at all, and I also know I never could have made you happy. You must have seen ever since the beginning of our engagement how very little I really returned all your devotion to me. I assure you I have struggled hard against the feeling, but all to no purpose. There is not a man in the world I have a greater regard and respect for than yourself, but I do not love you in the way a woman ought to love her husband, and I am perfectly certain if I had married you, I should have rendered not only my life miserable, but your own also.

And now we are eternally separated, for by the time you receive this I shall be the wife of Lord Hastings (age 21). I dare not ask for your forgiveness. I feel I have injured you far too deeply for that. All I can do now is to implore you to go and forget me. You said one night here, a woman who ran away was not worth thinking or caring about, so I pray that the blow may fall less severely on you than it might have done. May God bless you, and may you soon find some one far more worthy of becoming your wife than I should ever have been.—Yrs.

FLORENCE (age 21).

Adeline Horsey Recollections. 16 Jul 1864. Those days were rather noted for elopements, and two of my friends, Baroness Rose Somerset (age 35) and Lady Adela Villiers, were among the numerous romantic girls who were married in haste and sometimes repented at leisure. [his wife] Florence Paget's (age 21) elopement with the last Marquis of Hastings (age 21) on the eve of her marriage with Henry Chaplin (age 23) is too well known for me to repeat the story.

On 16 Jul 1864 Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings (age 21) and Florence Cecilia Paget Marchioness Hastings (age 21) were married. The marriage created a scandal as the bride had been engaged to Henry Chaplin (age 23) and had eloped with her husband the day before her planned wedding to Chaplin. Chaplin later got his revenge by outbidding Hastings for the horse Hermit which went on to win the 1867 Derby and against which Hastings had bet heavily. The loss led Hastings into heavy debt and drinking. He died some four years later in poverty. She the daughter of Henry Paget 2nd Marquess Anglesey (age 67) and Henrietta Bagot Marchioness Anglesey. He the son of George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings 2nd Marquess Hastings and Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings.

On 22 May 1867 The Derby, run during a freak snowstorm, was won by Hermit (age 3), owned by Henry Chaplin 1st Viscount Chaplin (age 26). The jockey was John Daley. Hermit was bred by Mr William Blenkiron and trained by Mr Bloss at Newmarket. There were 29 runners from an initial entry of 256. The winner won by a neck in 2 mins 52 secs, with a good distance between second and third. The winner won a first prize of £7,000. As a result of betting against Hermit Henry Hastings, 4th Marquess (age 24), who had three years earlier eloped with Henry Chaplin's (age 26) fiancé [his wife] Florence Cecilia Paget Marchioness Hastings (age 24), was ruined. Henry Chaplin's (age 26), who had bet on his horse Hermit, whose odds had lengthened out to 66-1 as a result of doubts about his pre-race fitness, won a fortune.

On 10 Nov 1868 Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings (age 26) died.

Marquess Hastings and Earl Moira extinct.

[his sister] Edith Maud Rawdon-Hastings 10th Countess Loudon (age 34) succeeded 10th Countess Loudon.

Baron Botreaux, Baron Hungerford, Baron Hastings, Baron Moleyns and Baron Grey of Ruthyn abeyant.

In 1870 George Chetwynd 4th Baronet (age 20) and [his former wife] Florence Cecilia Paget Marchioness Hastings (age 27) were married. She the daughter of Henry Paget 2nd Marquess Anglesey and Henrietta Bagot Marchioness Anglesey.

The Times. 04 Feb 1905.

We have to announce the death of [his former wife] Florence, Marchioness of Hastings (age 62), wife of Sir George Chetwynd, Bart., which took place on Sunday morning at Long Walk House, Windsor, after a few days' illness. The funeral will take place at Grendon, Atherstone, on Thursday next, at 2 o'clock.

Note. On 03 Feb 1907 Florence Cecilia Paget Marchioness Hastings (age 64) died.

Adeline Horsey Recollections. After my marriage Lord Cardigan and I always went to the different meetings, and generally met all our friends; among others, Lord and Baroness Westmorland, Lord and Baroness Hastings, the Duchess of Beaufort, Willie Craven, George Bruce, and Prince Batthyany. Newmarket was quite a charming rendezvous of society then, so different from the mixed crowd that goes there nowadays, and it could be easily re-christened "Jewmarket", for the Chosen are everywhere.

Royal Ancestors of Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings 1842-1868

Kings Wessex: Great x 23 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England

Kings Gwynedd: Great x 19 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd

Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 25 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth

Kings Powys: Great x 20 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys

Kings England: Great x 10 Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Kings Scotland: Great x 15 Grand Son of Robert "The Bruce" I King Scotland

Kings Franks: Great x 20 Grand Son of Louis VII King Franks

Kings France: Great x 13 Grand Son of Charles "Beloved Mad" VI King France

Ancestors of Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings 1842-1868

Great x 1 Grandfather: John Rawdon 1st Earl Moira

GrandFather: Francis Rawdon-Hastings 1st Marquess Hastings 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandfather: Ferdinando Hastings 6th Earl Huntingdon 4 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 3 Grandfather: Theophilus Hastings 7th Earl Huntingdon 5 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandmother: Lucy Davies Countess Huntingdon 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Theophilus Hastings 9th Earl Huntingdon 6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandfather: Francis Leveson Fowler

Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Frances Fowler Countess Huntingdon

Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Hastings Countess Moira 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Shirley 1st Earl Ferrers 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Washington Shirley 2nd Earl Ferrers 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Selina Shirley Countess Huntingdon 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Levinge

Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Levinge Countess Ferrers

Father: George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings 2nd Marquess Hastings 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Campbell 1st Earl Loudon

Great x 3 Grandfather: James Campbell 2nd Earl Loudon

Great x 2 Grandfather: James Campbell 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Hugh Montgomerie 7th Earl Eglinton 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Montgomerie 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Leslie Countess of Eglinton 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 1 Grandfather: James Mure-Campbell 5th Earl Loudon 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

GrandMother: Flora Mure-Campbell Marchioness of Hastings 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings 4th Marquess Hastings 10 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 1 Grandfather: Colonel Edward Thoroton Gould

GrandFather: Henry Gould Yelverton 19th Baron Grey Ruthyn 13 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Yelverton 1st Viscount Longueville 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Talbot Yelverton 1st Earl of Sussex 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Barbara Talbot Viscountess Longueville 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Yelverton 3rd Earl of Sussex 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Pelham 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Lucy Pelham Countess Sussex 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 1 Grandmother: Barbara Yelverton 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Mother: Barbara Yelverton Marchioness Hastings 14 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England