Somerville Hastings, FRCS (4 March 1878 – 7 July 1967) was a British surgeon and Labour Party politician.

ODNB The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

article by John Stewart
'Hastings, Somerville (1878–1967)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
accessed 16 Feb 2016

Early life and career

The son of the Reverend H G Hastings, he was born in Warminster,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. He was educated at Wycliffe College (Gloucestershire),

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(receiving the gold and silver medals for

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

) and the

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

, London. He qualified as MRCS LRCP in 1902, FRCS in 1904 and MB (London) in 1908. On 19 October 1911 Hastings married Bessie Tuke (1882–1958), the daughter of the architect William Tuke. They had two children.

Working life

Hastings was Member of Parliament (MP) for Reading, in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, from 1923 to 1924, and from 1929 to 1931. He returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1945 general election as MP for Barking, holding the seat until his retirement at the 1959 general election. Thora Silverthorne worked for Hastings as a nanny and went on to be secretary of the

Socialist Medical Association The Socialist Health Association (SHA, called the Socialist Medical Association before May 1981) is a socialist medical association based in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party as a Socialist society (Lab ...

. Hastings was founder President of the

(SMA) 1930–51. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, followed by work as an aural surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital. He was a Member of the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

(LCC) for fourteen years. Edith Summerskill felt that the "idea of a National Health Service germinated in the hospitable atmosphere" of Hastings’ home. He successfully proposed a resolution at the 1934

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conferen ...

that the party should be committed to the establishment of a State Health Service. He was a member of the Party's Medical Services sub-committee which produced the report ''A State Health Service'' which was accepted as the basis for the Party's policy. He represented the LCC on the

Nurses Salaries Committee The Nurses Salaries Committee was the first official body to fix salary scales and conditions for nursing in England. It was founded in 1941, and ceased its activity with its last report in 1943. Henry Betterton, 1st Baron Rushcliffe or Rushcliffe, ...

which published two reports in 1943

Death

Somerville Hastings died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 7 July 1967, aged 89.

Publications

Hastings was the author of: *''Toadstools at Home'' (1906) *''Wild Flowers at Home'' (1906) *''Alpine Plants At Home'' (1908) *''Summer Flowers Of The High Alps'' (1910) *''First Aid for the Trenches'' (1917) *''The Future of Medical Practice in England''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

(1928) *Fabian Tracts no. 24
''A National Physiological Minimum''
(January 1934) *''The Future of Medical Practice: A Personal View'' (1942) *''The Development of the Health Services'' (February 1943) (and many other leaflets and tracts for the Socialist Medical Association)
''The Family And The Social Services''
with Peggy Jay (February 1965)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Somerville 1878 births 1967 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of London County Council Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 National Health Service people Alumni of University College London English health activists English surgeons Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 20th-century English surgeons