Somerville Hastings
Somerville Hastings, FRCS (4 March 1878 – 7 July 1967) was a British surgeon and Labour Party politician.[1]
Family and early life
The son of the Reverend H G Hastings, he was born in Warminster, Wiltshire.[2] He was educated at Wycliffe College (Gloucestershire), University College (receiving the gold and silver medals for botany) and the Middlesex Hospital, London.[1][2] He qualified as MRCS LRCP in 1902, FRCS in 1904 and MB (London) in 1908.[2]
Marriage
On 19 October 1911 Hastings married Bessie Tuke (1881/2–1958), daughter of the architect William Tuke, they had two children.[1]
Working life
Hastings was Member of Parliament (MP) for Reading, in Berkshire, from 1923 to 1924, and from 1929 to 1931. He returned to the House of Commons 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.[3]
Hastings was founder President of the Socialist Medical Association (SMA) 1930-51.[4] He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War, followed by work as an aural surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital. He was a Member of the London County Council for fourteen years. Edith Summerskill felt that the "idea of a National Health Service germinated in the hospitable atmosphere" of Hastings’ home.[5]
Death
Somerville Hastings died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 7 July 1967, aged 89.[6]
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 1928
- Fabian Tracts no. 241 A National Physiological Minimum January 1934
- The Future of Medical Practice: A Personal View 1942
- The Development of the Health Services[7] 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
- 1 2 3 ODNB article by John Stewart, 'Hastings, Somerville (1878–1967)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 16 Feb 2016
- 1 2 3 "Obituary: Somerville Hastings Former Labour MP". The Times. 8 July 1967. p. 12.
- ↑ "A pledge to remember Oxford's Spanish Civil War volunteers". Oxford Mail. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ↑ http://www.sochealth.co.uk/the-socialist-health-association/members/distinguished-members/somerville-hastings/
- ↑ Stewart, John (1995). "Socialist Proposals for Health Reform in Inter-War Britain: the Case of Somerville Hastings". Medical History. 39: 338–357. PMC 1037003
. PMID 7643673. doi:10.1017/s0025727300060105. Retrieved 14 November 2014. - ↑ "Hastings, Somerville (1878 - 1967)". Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 16 Feb 2017.
- ↑ http://www.sochealth.co.uk/healthcare-generally/history-of-healthcare/the-development-of-the-health-services/
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Somerville Hastings
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edward Cadogan |
Member of Parliament for Reading 1923–1924 |
Succeeded by Herbert Williams |
| Preceded by Herbert Williams |
Member of Parliament for Reading 1929–1931 |
Succeeded by Alfred Bakewell Howitt |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Barking 1945–1959 |
Succeeded by Tom Driberg |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Richard Coppock |
Chairman of the London County Council 1944–1945 |
Succeeded by Charles Robertson |