Rear-Admiral F. D. Hastings
(1795-1869)
23 October 1861

Volume 5, page 163, sitting number 6145.

Francis Decimus Hastings entered the Royal Navy in 1807 and retired as Rear Admiral 1865. He served aboard HMS Stag, HMS Excellent and HMS Edinburgh.

He retired with the rank of Rear-Admiral in 1865 and died on 22 May 1869 at Barbourne House, Claines, near Worcester. He left an estate valued at £12,000.

An obituary appeared in the Morning Post (24 May 1869). 'We have to announce the death of Vice-Admiral Francis Decimus Hastings, which occurred at his residence, Barbourne House, near Worcester, on Friday. The deceased admiral was the sixth son of the late Rev. James Hastings, rector of Martley and Areley Regis, Worcestershire. He was born in the year 1795, and, entering the service in 1807, he served with distinction in the Syrian and Peninsular wars. He was appointed rear-admiral in 1859 and vice-admiral in 1865. He graduated B.A. at Cambridge in 1823, after returning from the great war. The gallant admiral was twice married; first, to Miss Perrot, daughter of Mr Perrot, Graham House, near Pershore, Worcestershire; and secondly to Mrs Vashon, widow of Rev. James Volant Vashon, rector of Salwarpe, Worcestershire. He was younger brother of the late Sir Charles Hastings and of the present Sir Thomas Hastings, Vice-Admiral of the White, who was knighted for his improvement in naval gunnery. Admiral Hastings had been ailing since Christmas last, and his health had frequently occasioned serious apprehensions to his friends, but he had been confined to his room only for the last fortnight.' 

[From an album that once belonged to the United Service Club.]