Marquess of Hastings

A carte-de-visite portrait of Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings (1842-1868), from 1851 the 4th Marquess of Hastings. He succeeded to the title when his older brother died aged only 18.

On 16 July 1864 he unexpectedly married Lady Florence Cecelia Paget (1842-1907), daughter of the 2nd Marquess of Anglesey. Lady Florence had been engaged to marry the popular sportsman and wealthy Lincolnshire squire Harry Chaplin. Only days before the wedding ceremony was due to take place, she took a carriage to Marshall and Snelgrove's on Oxford Street, supposedly to buy a few more items for her trousseau. In fact she walked straight through the store and out of the back entrance, where the Marquess of Hastings, Harry Chaplin's best friend, was waiting with marriage licence in hand. The two lovers drove straight to St George's in Hanover Square and were married immediately. Only the night before the three protagonists in this triangle had shared a box at the opera.

Their marriage only lasted a few years. The Marquess of Hastings died on 10 November 1868 at the age of 26, without issue.

According to the report of his death in the Times (11 November 1868): ‘We have to record the death of a youthful nobleman of high rank and extensive property, of whom it may unfortunately be said with some truth that he was his own worst enemy. His connexion with the turf was disastrous in its results; his health, which never was very strong, broke fairly down during the last few months; and his premature decease, which has for some days been expected, occurred early yesterday morning.’ A long article the following day detailed his gambling losses under the heading ‘The Turf Career of Lord Hastings.'

Photographed by Lambert Weston and Son of Dover and Folkestone.