George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings


George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, styled Lord Rawdon from birth until 1817 and Earl of Rawdon from 1817 to 1826, was a British peer and courtier.

Early life

Rawdon was born in 1808, the eldest son of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira and his wife, Flora Mure-Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun.

Career

Inheriting his father's titles in 1826, Lord Hastings was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King William IV from 1830 to 1831.
On his father's death he inherited a heavily mortgaged Donington Hall in Leicestershire. His chief passion was foxhunting and he kept his own pack of hounds at the hall in purpose-built kennels.

Personal life

On 1 August 1831, Lord Hastings was married to Barbara Yelverton, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn. She was the only daughter and heiress of Henry Yelverton, 19th Baron Grey de Ruthyn and his wife, the former Anna Maria Kelham. Her father, who died seven months after her birth, was a tenant and sometime friend of Lord Byron. Together, Barbara and George were the parents of six children:
He died an early death on 13 January 1844 at the age of 35 and was succeeded by his 12 year old eldest son, Paulyn, who himself died in Ireland only six years later. Paulyn was succeeded in turn by his younger brother Lord Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings, later 4th Marquess of Hastings and 9th Earl of Loudon.
On 9 April 1845, fifteen months after her first husband's death, she married secondly Captain Hastings Reginald Henry RN, who in 1849 took the name of Yelverton by royal licence. They settled at Efford House near Lymington and had one daughter, Barbara Yelverton, who married John Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baron Churston.