James Hastings
Mayor of Oxford 1917/18
James Hastings (1857–1928) was born at Misterton in Nottinghamshire, the son of William Hastings (born in Welham, Nottinghamshire in c.1820) and his wife Ann (born at Epwroth, Lincolnshire in c.1821).
The 1861 census shows James at the age of five living at Misterton with his parents, his grandfather James Hastings (77) who was a Chelsea Pensioner, and his siblings James (9), William (7), and Ann (2). His father was an agricultural labourer.
At the time of the 1881 census Hastings was a 24-year-old bricklayer of 24, boarding with a milkman and his family at 14 Harvard Road in Lewisham.
By 1887 Hastings had moved to Oxford and set up business as an estate agent and auctioneer at 55 Cornmarket Street. He first appears in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 27 August 1887, when he attended a meeting of the Conservative Association for the Central Ward, and on 21 June 1890 he inserted the following advertisement:
JAMES HASTINGS,
AUCTIONEER, SURVEYOR, VALUER, AND HOUSE & ESTATE AGENT,
55 Cornmarket Street, OxfordAll kinds of Surveying. Plans prepared for Estates. Valuations for Probate and general purposes. House and Estate Agency. Special attention given to laying out of new Building Estates. Fire, Life, & Accident Insurance effected.
The 1891 census shows Hastings as a widower of 34, described as an auctioneer and living at 72 Kingston Road with his two-year-old son James and a housekeeper.
Hastings came on to the city council as a Conservative representative of the North Ward in the 1890s, and remained a councillor for over 20 years. He was elected Sheriff of Oxford for 1913/14 and 1914/15.
The 1901 census shows Hastings (44) living at 14 Polstead Road with his second wife, Helen (39), who was the daughter of the former Oxford mayor James Grainge. With them are Hastings' son James, aged 12 and born in Oxford; his stepdaughter Janet Hall, also aged 12, who was born at Boscombe in Hampshire; and the couple's daughter Florence, aged 3 and born in Oxford. They have a nursemaid and a general servant.
In 1917 Hastings was elected Mayor of Oxford (for 1917/18).
Hastings was President of Summertown Allotments Association, President of the City & County Bowling Association, and a keen golfer. He was also a life member of the Clarendon Club, of which he was President for a period.
The Oxford Times described Hastings as "a prominent critic of the administration of the city". In 1922, when he was Chairman of the Property & Estates and Farm Committees, and the member of several other committees, he surprisingly lost his seat, coming fourth at the election.
Hastings regained his seat in November 1927, but died at the age of 70 less than two months later of double pneumonia following a chill. His funeral was held at St Margaret’s Church, and he was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery on 7 January. Mourners including his daughter (Miss Hastings), his step-daughter (Miss Hall), his brother-in-law (Mr T. J. Grainge), and his nephews (F. Howard and H. F. Galpin).
See also:
- Oxford Times, 6 January 1928, p. 11d (report of Hastings' death)
- Oxford Journal Illustrated, 11 January 1928, pp. 13b (funeral), 14d (photograph of Hastings in mayoral robes)
- 1881 Census: Kent (Lewisham), 0734/112
- 1891 Census: Oxford (St Giles), 1166/8
- 1901 Census: Oxford (St Giles), 1381/17