Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hastings, Thomas (1790-1870)
HASTINGS, Sir THOMAS (1790–1870), admiral, eldest son of Rev. James Hastings, rector of Martley in Worcestershire, and a distant cousin of Warren Hastings, was born on 3 July 1790. He entered the navy in September 1803, and having served in the Channel, West Indies, and home stations, commanded a gunboat in the Walcheren expedition, and was promoted, 17 Jan. 1810, to be lieutenant of the Badger in the North Sea. From 1811 to 1813 he served in the Hyacinth, and from 1813 to 1815 in the Undaunted, on the Mediterranean coasts of France and Spain, where he was frequently engaged in boat expeditions. He was first lieutenant of the Undaunted when she took Napoleon to Elba in 1814, and was for some time afterwards employed in keeping watch over the island. After the peace Hastings continued in active service, principally in the Mediterranean, till his promotion to commander's rank, 9 May 1825. In November 1828 he was appointed to the Ferret sloop, again in the Mediterranean, and was posted from her on 22 July 1830. In April 1832 he was specially selected as captain of the Excellent, then first instituted as a school of naval gunnery at Portsmouth, He held this important post for thirteen years, during the last six of which he was also superintendentof the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth. His services were officially recognised by his receiving the honour of knighthood, 5 July 1839; and in August 1845, when he retired from the Excellent, he was appointed store-keeper to the ordnance. On 23 Nov. 1850 he was made a civil C.B.; on 27 Sept. 1855, on reaching his flag by seniority, he was placed on the retired list. He was made a civil K.C.B. 9 March 1859, and became in due course vice-admiral 4 Oct. 1862, and admiral 2 April 1866. He died in London on 3 Jan. 1870. He married in 1827 Louisa Elizabeth, daughter of Humphrey Lowe of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.
[O'Byrne's Nav. Biog. Dict.; Times. 13 Jan. 1870; Army and Navy Gazette, 8 Jan. 1870; United Serv. Mag. 1870, pt. i. 200.]