Sir Edward Hastings, of Leicester Abbey
1541 - 1603 (62 years)
Set As Default Person 
1533 - 1574 (41 years)-
Gender Male Born 1541 Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England 
Residence Sir Edward Hastings of Leicester Abbey is the fourth son to Francis Hastings the 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and his wife Lady Katherine Pole, Countess of Huntingdon.
Family
Edward eldest brother Henry became the 3rd Earl of Huntingdon when their father passed away in 1560 and thus became responsible for his widowed mother and ten siblings (almost all were underage). The second eldest William died unmarried and without issue and the third son, George, became the 4th Earl of Huntingdon when Henry died at court in 1595.
On his maternal side Edward is a grandson to Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu and Jane Neville, daughter of George Neville, third Baron Bergavenny.
Baron Montagu, a relation of Henry VIII, was accused of and executed for treason in 1539. Researchers have noted the difficulty in reconciling many of the accusations against him with the public record of his loyalty. Edward's great-grandmother was Lady Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (nee Plantagenet), the only daughter of George Plantagenet, George of York, Duke of Clarence, and a niece to the Kings Edward IV and Richard III. She too, following her sons and grandson, was accused of and executed for high treason in 1541. On 29 December 1886 she was beatified by Pope Leo XIII and became the Blessed Margaret Pole.Political Career
There is a record that Edward was admitted to the Middle Temple and retained a room there, there is no record that he actually studied Law. As a young man he evidently did see military service - aged 18 he received £5 by the borough of Leicester 'when he went against the rebels in the north,' and on 28 Aug. 1570 he was knighted at Carlisle by the Earl of Sussex. He was a Gentleman Pensioner (bodyguard to the monarch) from 1572-1578, a justice of the peace in Leicester from 1583 and steward of the honour of Leicester and town clerk from 1591-97.
In February 1573, Sir Thomas Smith, writing to Burghley about reinforcements for the Scottish campaign, remarked that Sir Edward had approached him ‘divers times’, asking that, should his brother the 3rd Earl, as president of the council in the north, decide to send further troops across the border, he might be given command of them. ‘Your lordship knows’ added Smith, ‘his goodwill to serve’. in 1586 he was asked to assist in the removal of Mary Queen of Scots from his neighbourhood to Fotheringay.
Hastings bought Leicester Abbey from the 3rd Earl, who had built a house on the site from monastic materials. There were difficulties about the transaction owing to the Crown’s seizure of the property in connexion with the Earl’s debts; but as ‘the said Sir Edward, by reason of the extreme sickness wherewith he bath been visited almost ever since (and at this time is in great peril of death), could not proceed in pleading his discharge and humbly craved longer time for the same’, he was given time to prepare his case and evidently succeeded in gaining possession. He also appears to be the first owner to have permanently resided in the Abbey.Marriage & Children
Edward married Barbara Devereux, daughter of Sir William Devereux of Mirevale Abbey and Jane Scudamore.
William's father was Walter Devereux 1st Viscount Hereford and his grandfather was Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby. Thomas enjoyed an elevated position in court; through his mother Elizabeth Woodville's second marriage he became a stepson to King Edward IV.Barbara was a wealthy woman through inheritance - she was the widow of Edward Cave of Ingarsby, Leicester, and co-heiress to her father.
Edward and Barbara had three sons and two daughters - Henry, Edward, Walter, Dorothy and Ann. Walter, Edward and Dorothy died without issue and in 1603 Edward was succeeded by his eldest son Sir Henry.
It is important to note that Hans Francis Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon and all subsequent Earls of Huntingdon are descended in the paternal line from Edward.References
This information was extracted and adapted from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Collins’s Peerage of England. Information on Edward's military life came from The History of Parliament. Additional information was pulled from Wikipedia. Links in sources section. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Died 24 Jan 1603 St. Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England [6]
Age 62 years 
Siblings10 siblings Person ID I265 Family Tree | Hastings Branch Last Modified 20 Feb 2017
Father 
Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, b. Abt 1514, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England , d. 20 Jun 1560, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England (Age ~ 46 years) Mother Katherine Pole, b. 1511, Montacute, Somerset, England , d. 23 Sep 1576, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England (Age 65 years) Married 1532 Children11 children Family ID F77 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Spouse / Partner Barbara Devereux Married 1567 Children5 children Last Modified 18 Feb 2017 Family ID F75 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Event Map 
Born - 1541 - Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England 
Died - 24 Jan 1603 - St. Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England = Link to Google Earth Pin Legend 
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Sources - [S99] The History of Parliament - British Political, Social and Local History, (http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/), http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/hastings-sir-edward-1603, 19 Feb 2017.
- [S89] The Huntingdon peerage, a detailed account of the recent restoration of the ..., Nugent Bell, Henry, 19 Feb 2017.
- [S100] The Annual Register 1820, J. Dodsley, Page 1223, 19 Feb 2017.
- [S94] Wikipedia, ( Wikimedia Foundation, Inc), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Devereux,_1st_Viscount_Hereford, 19 Feb 2017.
- [S101] Collins's Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical Vol.6, By Arthur Collins, Sir Egerton Brydges, 19 Feb 2017.
- [S89] The Huntingdon peerage, a detailed account of the recent restoration of the ..., Nugent Bell, Henry, Page 349, 19 Feb 2017.
- [S99] The History of Parliament - British Political, Social and Local History, (http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/), http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/hastings-sir-edward-1603, 19 Feb 2017.