and upon that event he succeeded to the ancient baronies of Hastings, Hungerford, &c, which were vested in the Hastings family[1]. In February, 1817, he was created, on account of his public services in India, Marquess of Hastings, Earl of Rawdon, and Viscount Loudoun, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, and in 1818 he was made a G. C. H. and G. C. B. Several votes of thanks were passed in his favour in both Houses of Parliament, and the same was passed in the general Court of the East India Company in February 1819, when a grant of £60,000 was voted for the purchase of an estate for his wife and issue. After his death a further sum of £20,000 was also voted for the benefit of his son, who was then under age. When offered a Marquessate, he endeavoured to get the title of 'Marquess of Clarence,' and he based his request upon his descent from George Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV. But this application was not entertained, and the title conferred upon him was derived from the town in Sussex where his ancestor had been Portgrave in the reign of William the Conqueror. It appears moreover he had been led to believe that he would have been created a Duke at the coronation of George IV, but this expectation was not realised.
Lord Moira is described as a tall athletic man, dark
- ↑ The Earldom of Huntingdon descended in the male line only, and became suspended for some years after the death of Lady Moira's brother, until claimed by the male heir of the second Earl. See Burke's Vicissitudes of Families, ii. 22.
