James Hastings
Mayor of Oxford 1917/18
James Hastings (1857–1928) was born at Misterton in Nottinghamshire.
At the time of the 1881 census he was an unmarried bricklayer of 24, boarding with a milkman and his family at 14 Harvard Road in Lewisham.
By 1891 Hastings is listed in directories as an auctioneer at 55 Cornmarket Street in Oxford. The census that year shows him as a widower of 34 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 in 1913 and again in 1914, and Mayor in 1917.
The 1901 census shows Hastings living at 14 Polstead Road with his second wife, Helen, 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 his daughter Florence, aged 3 and born in Oxford. The family is looked after by a nursemaid and general servant.
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 him 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