INDIA-L Archives

From: "Otto, Julie" <>
Subject: Re: Harington VC
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 17:13:49 -0500

I was intrigued by the names in the post re: Edward Hastings Harington
(1832-1861) -- particularly the one-R Harington, middle name Hastings, and
Wiltshire birthplace which place him among the Harington family of Kelston,
Somerset and Bath which was very well done by Rev. F.J. Poynton in his 1883
MEMORANDA OF KELSTON. In the late nineteenth century Rev. Poynton was rector
of that parish, which lies about 3 miles NW of Bath on the A431 highway to
Bristol. (Of course in those days Bath lay in Somerset too, but since 1974
it has been in the county, if these jurisdictions are still so called, of
"Bristol and Avon"). Another useful work, but better for the earlier
centuries, is Ian Grimble's THE HARINGTON FAMILY (1959).

Of the man in the post, Poynton's MEMORANDA OF KELSTON, part 4, pp. 43, 44,
under the "Harington of Corston, Somerset" pedigree, gives "Hastings Edward
Harington, V.C." as "Capt. in HM Bengal Artillery. Educated at Addiscombe.
Entered the Army in June 1852. Served with distinction in the Indian Mutiny
at Cawnpore and Siege of Delhi, etc.; Staff Officer of Division of Artillery
at Agra. After being of twice or thrice severely wounded, died of cholera at
Agra 19 July 1861, s.p. Pious and brave, Beloved and Lamented." His siblings
are given as: Herbert Harington, Indian Civil Service; Dallas Oldfield
Harington ("In Holy Orders. One of the executors of his mother's will. B.A.
St. Alban's Hall, Oxford 1859. Deacon 1860. Priest 1861. Secretary to Irish
Church Missionary Society. Formerly Vicar of St. Philip's, Dalston. Now
(1882) Rector of Burghfield, Yorks."); Charles Summer Harington ("In Holy
Orders. Of Brightling, Hawkhurst, Sussex. Afterwards Incumbent of the Old
Church, Calcutta, 8 Feb. 1882. Married at the Old Church, Calcutta, 8 Feb.
1882 Eliza Rosewell Parker, only dau. of Joseph Parker, Esq. of Upton
Cheney, Bitton, co. Gloucs."); Henry Harington, about whom nothing further
is given in this pedigree; Arthur Harington ("of the Bengal Civil Service,
living Edinburgh in 1877," having married an unnamed wife and had a child
"Home" [Homer?] Hastings Harington, b. Edinburgh 30 Aug. 1877, d. there 10
Dec. 1877 ae. 3 mos.); Emily Sophia Harington, who m. All Saints,
Hurstmonceaux (is this in Sussex?) 12 Jan. 1860 George Brown, Esq. of
Amesbury, Wilts.; Helen Harington, who m. Henry Martin; and Annie Harington,
who was unm. in 1882. All these Haringtons were children of Rev. John
Harington, "Rector of Little Hinton, Wilts. 1838. BA, Queen's College,
Cambridge, 1823, M.A. 1828" who m. Ann Spencer Young, who d. Hurstmonceaux 4
Jan. 1871, "will proved in Feb., G.P.C.", dau. of an Admiral Young. Hastings
Edward Harington was named for his paternal uncle, Hastings Hawes Harington,
"clerk in Holy Orders, curate of Chalbury, afterwards of Preston, Dorset;
later chaplain of Cuttack, Bengal where he d. about 1862."

Rev. John Harington and Hastings Hawes Harington are sons of John Herbert
Harington, "a Member of the Supreme Court of Bengal. Author of 'An
Elementary Analysis of the Laws and Regulations enacted by the
Governour-General in Council in Fort William,' in 6 parts, folio, Calcutta,
1805-1809. Had issue by a Lady of colour whilst resident in India." His
eight children by this lady are indicated by a curly line and include both
Rev. John and Hastings Hawes. John Herbert Harington m. in India 4 June 1808
Amelia Johnstone and had children indicated by the usual straight line.

John Herbert Harington was son of Rev. John Harington ("b. 26 March, bp.
Corston, Somerset 9 April [Easter Day] 1732. Matriculated at Exeter College,
Oxford, 11 May 1749 ae. 17; held Symes' Scholarship; BA 10 April 1753;
Deacon 1755; MA 8 April 1756; BD and DD 17 April 1771. Rector of Chalbury,
Dorset, 1766. Sold the Manor of Corston. Was Prebendary of Salisbury
Cathedral (Yatesbury Stall). Rector of Thruxton, Hants.; bur. St. Edmund's,
Salisbury, 10 June 1795") by his first wife Rachel Hawes, b. ca. 1742, d. 12
Feb. 1782 ae. 40, bur. St. Edmund's, Salisbury, dau. of Rev. Henry Hawes,
Rector of Bemerton, Wilts. ("in the Stemmata Chicheliana, via her mother").

Rev. John Harington 1732-1795 was son of John Harington, bp. Corston,
Somerset 1 April 1702, bur. Corston 6 May 1763 ae. 61, by his first marriage
to Mary Bushell (d. 16 April 1732 ae. 25), dau. of James and Mary (Sherston)
of Bath. John Harington 1702-1763 is son of Benjamin Harington, "eldest
surviving son of John Harington [M.P., 1627-1700] and Alice his wife [one of
four; our server is going down in 15 min. and I can't find the right
pedigree]", John Harington MP 1627-1700 is son of John Harington ca.
1589-1654 & Dioness Ley ca. 1597-1674, dau. of James Ley, 1st Earl of
Marlborough; John Harington MP c1589-1654 is son of Sir John Harington
(1560/61-20 Nov. 1612), godson of Queen Elizabeth I, and wife Mary Rogers
(d. 1634) of the Rogers family of Cannington, Somerset.

The Haringtons of Kelston, Bath, etc. were involved with the East India Co.
from at least the mid-18th on, being cousins of John Hudleston (1749-1835)
of Bath, director of the HEIC, a grandson of Ven. Lawson Hudleston
(1678-1743), rector of Kelston and Archdeacon of Bath, and his wife Helena
Harington (1681-1748), great-aunt of Susanna Isabella (Harington) Thomas.
Such connections were good for generations, apparently!

My late father's paternal grandfather (whom he visited at Rochester, Kent
ca. 1908) was Edgar Hastings Thomas, born at "Yaulnah", East Indies in Dec.
1837. He appears in the Harington pedigree, chart "C", of Poynton's book
(Part 4, p. 56), one of eight children of Capt. George Hudleston Thomas
(1801-1839), HEICS, and Mary Anne Broadhurst (1805-1895) who were m. Walcot
St. Church, Bath 25 Sept. 1825. Capt. G.H. Thomas was son of Ven. Josiah
Thomas, Archdeacon of Bath (1760-1820) and Susanna Isabella Harington
(1762-1835) of the Kelston/Bath family. George's sister Jane Ann (Thomas)
(Harington) Dawes (1798-post 1883) was (by her first marriage, to first
cousin Capt. Edward Musgrave Harington 1789-1842) a 3-great-grandmother of
Capt. Mark Phillips, former husband of HRH The Princess Royal. Another
sister was

According to the Bengal Officers List 4:254, my great-great-grandfather
Capt. George Hudleston Thomas (then commander of the 7th Madras Light
Cavalry) died at Bellary, Madras, 5 March 1839, in a riding accident, and is
buried in the cantonment there. (His widow Mary Anne never married -- my
grandmother Hilda Margaret Rose Thomas, born in Rangoon and sent to England
in 1876, was living as a 12-year old girl in her household at
Weston-super-mare in the 1881 census.) I've found Bellary on the map -- it
lies in the very east part of Karnataka state, practically to the Andhra
Pradesh border, and there may be a rail junction there -- but no mentions of
the place in some actually quite large and detailed current travel works
(e.g. Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, etc.) which specifically treat South
India, so suspect it's either a backwater, not quite safe, or simply that
there may be other more interesting places near enough as not to bother.
Have any gravestone compilations, etc. been done of Bellary?

Hope this is of use, and of interest, and not a rehash of things you have.

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• Re: Harington VC by "Otto, Julie" <>