Baron Hastings - 1295 Creation

1295 Creation

John Hastings was summoned to the Model Parliament as Lord Hastings on 23 June 1295. He was the son of Henry de Hastings, who had been created Baron Hastings by Simon de Montfort in 1263. This title does not appear to have been recognised by the King, although his son John Hastings is sometimes referred to as the second Baron Hastings. John Hastings's grandson, the third Baron, was created Earl of Pembroke in 1339. The latter’s son, the second Earl, married as his second wife Anne Hastings, 2nd Baroness Manny. Their son, the third Earl and fifth Baron Hastings, succeeded his mother as third Baron Manny.

On his death in 1389 the earldom and barony of Manny became extinct, while the barony of Hastings became dormant. It then became the subject of a bitter-fought law suit, nominally over the right to the Hastings arms but including the right to the family honours. The barony was claimed by Hugh Hastings (1377–1396) (later deemed the de jure 7th Baron Hastings; see below). He was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Hastings, grandson of Sir Hugh Hastings (c. 1307–1347), son of the second Baron by his second wife. Hugh claimed the title as "heir of the half blood". However, the claim was contested by Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, as "heir of the whole blood". Lord Grey de Ruthyn claimed the Barony in right of his grandmother Elizabeth, daughter of the second Baron Hastings by his first wife. On the early death of Hugh Hastings in 1396 the claim passed to his younger brother Edward Hastings (1382–1438) (later deemed the de jure 8th Baron Hastings; see below). In 1410 a court decided in favour of Grey. Hastings immediately appealed, and at the coronation of Henry V in 1413, he claimed the right to carry the spurs before the King, which Lord Grey de Ruthyn had done undisputed in 1399 at the coronation of Henry IV. Hastings was later ordered to pay the costs of the trial. When he refused, he was imprisoned in 1417. He remained imprisoned until 1433, but refused to buy his release by abandoning his claims. No final decision regarding the Barony was made at the time, but both families continued to claim the title. The Greys finally abandoned their claim in 1639.

After the title had been dormant for 452 years, in 1841 House of Lords decided that the rightful successor to the third Earl of Pembroke and fifth Baron Hastings was his kinsman John Hastings, de jure 6th Baron Hastings. He was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Hastings, younger son of the first Baron. His successor should have been his great-nephew, the aforementioned Hugh Hastings, de jure 7th Baron Hastings. The next holder should have been his younger brother, the aforementioned Edward Hastings, de jure 8th Baron Hastings. On the death of the latter’s great-great-great-grandson, the de jure 15th Baron, the peerage technically fell into abeyance between the Baron's sisters Anne and Elizabeth. The House of Lords decision meant that there were three co-heirs to the barony. The decision was in favour of Sir Jacob Astley, 6th Baronet, who was summoned to the House of Lords the same year as Lord Hastings. He was a descendant of the aforementioned Elizabeth, sister of the de jure 15th Baron. Lord Hastings had previously represented West Norfolk in the House of Commons.

As of 2010 the titles are held by his great-great-great-grandson, the twenty-third Baron and thirteenth Baronet, who succeeded his father in 2007. The twenty-second Baron served in the Conservative administrations of Harold Macmillan and Sir Alec Douglas-Home as a government whip from 1961 to 1962 and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Local Government from 1962 to 1964.

The Astley Baronetcy, of Hill Merton in the County of Warwick, had been created in the Baronetage of England on 25 June 1660 for Jacob Astley. He represented Norfolk in House of Commons for many years. His great-grandson, the fourth Baronet, also represented Norfolk in Parliament. He married Rhoda, daughter of Francis Blake Delaval, of Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland, and sister of John Delaval, 1st Baron Delaval. Through this marriage the Seaton Delaval estate came into the Astley family. Their son, the fifth Baronet, was also Member of Parliament of Norfolk. The latter was the father of the sixth Baronet, who succeeded as Baron Hastings in 1841.

The family seat was Seaton Delaval Hall, now in the possession of the National Trust.