Posted on: 5 September 2011

Sir Francis Rawdon (1754-1826) - The elusive Marquess of Hastings
mentioned in the narrative of all paintings of Sita Ram.

Born in the county of Down, Northern Ireland, the second of six children of John Rawdon (March 17, 1720 – June 20, 1793, Earl of Moira) and his third wife, Elizabeth Hastings (1730-1808, Baroness Hastings), Francis Rawdon became the second earl of Moira, and afterward the first Marquess of Hastings. He is therefore referred to variously in the literature as Francis Rawdon, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, the Earl of Moira, Baron Rawdon of Rawdon, Lord Rawdon, the Marquess of Hastings, and Lord Hastings.

Active in politics during his middle age, he later went to India as Governor-General of Bengal (in effect the ruler or Viceroy of British India) and Commander-in-Chief from 1813 to 1823, accompanied by his wife and their young children.

During his time in India, the Marquess and his wife Lady Flora were at the center of Calcutta society and patronized British artists such as George Chinnery, and the amateur artist Sir Charles D'Oyly, but their extensive patronage of Indian artists has not previously been known. Many of his travels in India were captured in water colors by the Indian artist SITA RAM.

Read more :
http://rawdonhistoricalsociety.com/sirfrancis/sirfrancis.htm


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Having arrived in India in 1814, the Marquess of Hastings did not return to Britain until 1823 ~ those nine years constituted the longest period of continuous service by any Governor-General or Viceroy during the long colonial era. In spite of his already quite advanced age (he was sixty-nine when he left India) he was subsequently appointed to the Governorship of Malta ~ if, truth be known, this position being something of a sinecure. There, after only serving for a short time, he suffered a severe fall from a horse and died as a result of internal bleeding. Rather romantically ( if touched with a certain gruesome quality) his dying wish was that his right hand should be cut off and buried with his wife. When the Marchioness of Hastings eventually died, his wish was duly carried out. I have no idea how his hand had been kept in the meantime.