Somerville Hastings FRCS MP (March 4, 1878 – 7 July 1967) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 surgeon and Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician.

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

Warminster

Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...

, Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

. He was educated at Wycliffe College (Gloucestershire)

Wycliffe College (Gloucestershire)

Wycliffe College is a co-educational independent school located in the town of Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, in the West of England. The school was founded in 1882 by GW Sibly, and comprises a Nursery School for ages 2 – 4, a Preparatory School for ages 4 – 13, and a Senior School catering for...

, University College

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 (receiving the gold and silver medals for botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

) and the Middlesex Hospital

Middlesex Hospital

The Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, United Kingdom. First opened in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally closed in 2005. Its staff and services were transferred to various sites...

, London. He qualified as MRCS

Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons

MRCS is a professional qualification for surgeons in the UK and IrelandIt means Member of the Royal College of Surgeons. In the United Kingdom, doctors who gain this qualification traditionally no longer use the title 'Dr' but start to use the title 'Mr', 'Mrs', 'Miss' or 'Ms'.There are 4 surgical...

 LRCP

Royal College of Physicians

The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...

 in 1902, FRCS

Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons

Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...

 in 1904 and MB (London) in 1908.

He was Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Reading

Reading (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....

, in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

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

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 at the 1945 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1945

The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...

 as MP for Barking

Barking (UK Parliament constituency)

Barking is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It has elected Labour MPs since its creation in 1945, usually with strong majorities.- Boundaries :The...

, holding the seat until his retirement at the 1959 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1959

This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...

.

Hastings was founder President of the Socialist Medical Association

Socialist Health Association

The Socialist Medical Association was founded in 1930, in order to campaign for a National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It took in many of those who had been active in the State Medical Service Association...

 (SMA) 1930-51. 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.

He 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
  The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals...
  
  1928
• Fabian Tracts no 241 A National Physiological Minimum January 1934, and no 359
• 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

External links