After the title had been dormant for 452 years, in 1841 the House of Lords decided that the rightful successor to the third Earl of Pembroke and fifth Baron Hastings was his kinsman John Hastings, "de jure" 6th Baron Hastings. He was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Hastings, younger son of the first Baron. His successor should have been his great-nephew, the aforementioned Hugh Hastings, "de jure" 7th Baron Hastings. The next holder should have been his younger brother, the aforementioned Edward Hastings, "de jure" 8th Baron Hastings. On the death of the latter's great-great-great-grandson, the "de jure" 15th Baron, the peerage technically fell into abeyance between the Baron's sisters Anne and Elizabeth. The House of Lords decision meant that there were three co-heirs to the barony. The decision was in favour of Sir Jacob Astley, 6th Baronet, who was summoned to the House of Lords the same year as Lord Hastings. He was a descendant of the aforementioned Elizabeth, sister of the "de jure" 15th Baron. Lord Hastings had previously represented West Norfolk in the House of Commons.