Francis Hastings Doyle

Sir Francis Hastings Charles Doyle, 2nd Baronet (21 August 1810 – 8 June 1888) was a British poet.

Biography Doyle was born at Nunappleton near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, to a family which produced several army officers, including his father, Major-General Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, 1st Baronet, created a baronet in 1828. His mother was Diana Elizabeth Milner (died 1828), daughter of Sir William Milner, 3rd Baronet of Nunappleton. He succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1839.

Doyle was educated at Eton College. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1828, graduating B.A. in 1832 with a degree in classics. He was a Fellow of All Souls College from 1835 to 1845. Among his Oxford friends was William Gladstone, at whose marriage he was best man, but in later life their political opinions widely differed.

Later Doyle held fiscal appointments, becoming in 1846 receiver-general of Customs, a post he held to 1869. He moved in 1869 to commissioner of Customs, and held that position to 1883. Lectures on Poetry: Delivered at Oxford (Second Series) (1877). Includes Installation Ode, and other poems. In 1869 some of the first series lectures Doyle had delivered were published in book form. One was his appreciation of William Barnes. Reminiscences and Opinions of Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, 1813-1885 (1886)

Family In 1844, Doyle married Sidney Williams-Wynn (died 1867), daughter of the MP Charles Williams-Wynn. The couple had three sons and two daughters: The second son Everard Hastings Doyle (1852–1933) succeeded to the baronetcy. He was Clerk of Committees at the House of Commons, and died unmarried. The younger daughter Sidney Annora died unmarried in 1873.