Gavin Hastings

Andrew Gavin Hastings, OBE (born 3 January 1962) is a former Scotland rugby union player. He is frequently considered to be one of the best rugby players to come out of Scotland. His nickname is "Big Gav".

Hastings was born in Edinburgh. He has played for Watsonians, London Scottish, Cambridge University, Scotland and the British and Irish Lions and was one of the outstanding rugby union players of his generation, winning 61 caps for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. He played fullback, and captained the Lions on the tour to New Zealand in 1993 (after playing in all three tests in the 1989 tour to Australia).

Former national coach Ian McGeechan said of him:

Statistics

Richard Bath writes of Gavin Hastings that:

Biography

As a schoolboy Hastings became the first player to captain a Scottish schoolboys side to win in England. In 1985, he captained Cambridge University to victory in the Varsity Match. His younger brother Scott was also a professional Rugby Union player.

International career

Hastings (New Zealand electorate)

Hastings was a parliamentary electorate in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand from 1946 to 1996. The electorate was represented by nine Members of Parliament. The Hastings electorate was a typical bellwether electorate, frequently changing between the two main parties.

Population centres

The 1941 census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Hastings. The towns of Hastings and Havelock North have always been located within the electorate until the 1987 electoral redistribution, whereas the nearby Fernhill was always included in the adjacent Hawke's Bay electorate.

Hastings (UK Parliament constituency)

Hastings was a parliamentary constituency in Sussex. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1885 general election, when its representation was reduced to one member. It was abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partially replaced by the new Hastings and Rye constituency.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The County Borough of Hastings.

1950-1955: The County Borough of Hastings, the Municipal Borough of Rye, and in the Rural District of Battle the civil parishes of Ashburnham, Battle, Beckley, Bodiam, Brede, Brightling, Broomhill, Catsfield, Crowhurst, Dallington, East Guldeford, Ewhurst, Fairlight, Guestling, Icklesham, Iden, Mountfield, Northiam, Ore, Peasmarsh, Penhurst, Pett, Playden, Rye Foreign, Salehurst, Sedlescombe, St Thomas the Apostle Winchelsea, Udimore, Westfield, and Whatlington.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1366–1640

MPs 1640–1885

Notes

Hastings (East Indiaman)

Four vessels with the name Hastings have served the East India Company (EIC), one on contract as an East Indiaman, one brig of the Bombay Pilot Service, one ship of the line, and one frigate of the Company's Bombay Marine.