Hastings, Warren, 1732-1818

Person

Hastings, Warren, 1732-1818

1732-1818

HASTINGS, WARREN, second son of Rev. Penyston Hastings, Vicar of Bledington, Gloucs., and Hester, dau. of Thomas Warren, Stubhill, near Twining, Gloucs.; b. 6 Dec 1732; adm. May 1743 (Gibson's); KS (Capt.) 1747; left 1749; Writer, EICS Bengal 1749; landed at Calcutta 8 Oct 1750; Resident, Murshidabad 1757-60; member of council, Calcutta 1761-4; returned to England 1764; gave evidence on India to a committee of the House of Commons 1766; Second on Council, Madras 1769-72; Governor of Bengal 13 Apr 1772 – Oct 1774, Governor-Gen. of Bengal 20 Oct 1774 – Feb 1785; reorganised financial and judicial system in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa; assisted Nawab of Oudh against the Rohillas; took measures against dacoits; named as first Governor-General of Bengal in Act of 1773; opposed by majority on new Council; charged with corruption by Nuncomar, who was subsequently arrested on a charge of forgery in a private suit instigated by an Indian, and hanged; took measures to improve the EI Company’s finances; supported by Supreme Court, Calcutta, which ignored the acceptance by the Company’s directors of his provisional resignation; fought a duel with Sir Philip Francis, who had persistently opposed him in Council, 17 Aug 1780; drove Haidar Ali out of the Carnatic; deposed Chait Singh, Zemindar of Benares, and seized his treasure 1781; suspected of conniving at the imprisonment of the Begums of Oudh and the seizure of their property; concluded treaty with Tippoo Sultan in 1783 which laid foundation for British supremacy in India; founded Asiatic Society of Bengal and the Calcutta Madrisa; left India Feb 1785; returned to England 13 Jun 1785; his impeachment on ground of corruption and cruelty in his administration of Bengal voted by a large majority in the House of Commons 3 Apr 1787; his trial in Westminster Hall occupied 145 days between 13 Feb 1788 and 23 Apr 1795, but resulted in an acquittal; retired to estate at Daylesford, Worcs., purchased by him in 1788; Privy Councillor 6 May 1814; FRS 25 Jun 1801; DCL Oxford 30 Jun 1813; one of donors of Warren Hastings Cup; m. 1st, 1757 Mary, widow of Capt. John Buchanan, Craigieven; m. 2nd, 8 Aug 1777 Anna Maria Apollonia, mother of Sir Charles Imhoff (qv), widow of Baron Christopher Adam Carl von Imhoff, and dau. of Baron von Chapuset; d. 22 Aug 1818. DNB. Monument in North Transept, Westminster Abbey.

Imhoff, Charles, ca. 1766-1853 (ca. 1766-1853)

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Users should note that the information recorded here that is not to be found in the first two volumes of the Record of Old Westminsters and its first Supplement has been assembled from various published and manuscript sources by Hugh Edmund Pagan MA FSA, and all new resulting text is his copyright, © 2014.

The Record of Old Westminsters: A biographical list of all those who are known to have been educated at Westminster School from the earliest times to 1927, Volumes 1 & 2, compiled by G. F. Russell Barker and Alan H. Stenning, London, 1928.