Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, Soldier and Colonial Administrator, Is Born in Dublin

Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, KG, PC (9 December 1754 – 28 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira between 1793 and 1816, was an Anglo-Irish politician and military officer who served as Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823.

He had also served with British forces for years during the American Revolutionary War and in 1794 during the War of the First Coalition.

In Ireland, he was critical of the policy of coercion used to break the United Irish movement for representative government and national independence.

He took the additional surname “Hastings” in 1790 in compliance with the will of his maternal uncle, Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon.

Hastings was born at Moira, County Down, the son of John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira and Elizabeth Hastings, 13th Baroness Hastings, who was a daughter of the 9th Earl of Huntingdon. He was baptised at St. Audoen’s Church, Dublin, on 2 January 1755. He grew up in Moira and in Dublin. He joined the British Army on 7 August 1771 as an ensign in the 15th Foot (the going rate for purchasing a commission for this rank was £200).