Basil MacDonald Hastings (20 September 1881 – 21 February 1928) was an English author, journalist, and playwright.

Early life and education

Hastings was born on 20 September 1881 in London, second son of solicitor S. J. Edward Hastings. He was educated at

Stonyhurst Stonyhurst is a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is centred on Stonyhurst College, occupying the great house, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish church, St ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. His nephew- son of his elder brother, Major Lewis Aloysius Macdonald Hastings (1880-1966), a farmer in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

, where he had been a diamond prospector, political organizer, and served in the Cape Mounted Police- was the politician

Stephen Hastings Sir Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings (4 May 1921 – 10 January 2005) was a British Conservative politician who was elected Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire in a 1960 by-election and held it until he stood down at the 1983 general ...

Career

Hastings was on the War Office staff for eight years before being appointed assistant editor of ''

The Bystander ''The Bystander'' was a British weekly tabloid magazine including reviews, topical drawings, cartoons and short stories. Published from Fleet Street, it was started in 1903 by George Holt Thomas. Its first editor, William Comyns Beaumont, late ...

'', where he remained for three years. 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 ...

, Hastings served as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

, having previously been a corporal in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

; he founded and edited the RAF journal, ''The Fledgling'' (later ''Roosters and Fledglings''). Hastings was a friend, collaborator, and regular correspondent of

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

. Hastings produced a successful adaptation of Conrad's novel ''

Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

'' performed at the Globe Theatre in London in 1919. By this time, Hastings had "already written several plays and collaborated on two others with

Eden Phillpotts Eden Phillpotts (4 November 1862 – 29 December 1960) was an English author, poet and dramatist. He was born in Mount Abu, India, was educated in Plymouth, Devon, and worked as an insurance officer for ten years before studying for the stage ...

". Hastings's best-known play, ''The New Sin'' (1912), "had some success on the London stage". He died on 21 February 1928 in London after a "lengthy illness", at age 46.

Personal life

Hastings married Wilhelmina ("Billie") Creusen White, of a Catholic family from

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, some of the members of which subsequently "developed social pretensions" and treated her with condescension, according to her grandson

Max Hastings Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (; born 28 December 1945) is a British journalist and military historian, who has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and editor of the ''Evening Standard''. ...

. They had a son- journalist and author (Douglas Edward)

Macdonald Hastings Douglas Edward Macdonald Hastings (6 October 1909 – 4 October 1982), known as Macdonald Hastings or Mac Hastings, was an English journalist, author and war correspondent. He wrote for ''Lilliput (magazine), Lilliput'' magazine under the pseudo ...

(father of the journalist, author and historian Max Hastings)- and a daughter.Who's Who, 74th edition, vol. 1, ed. Henry R. Addison et al, A. & C. Black, 1922, p. 1219

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Basil Macdonald 1881 births 1928 deaths English journalists English dramatists and playwrights