Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon

The Right Honourable The Countess of Huntingdon
Personal details
Born	Selina Shirley (1707-08-24)24 August 1707 Astwell Castle, Northamptonshire, England
Died	17 June 1791(1791-06-17) (aged 83)
Spouse	Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon ​ ​ (m. 1728; died 1746)​
Children	Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon Elizabeth Rawdon, Countess of Moira Lady Selina Hastings
Parent(s)	Washington Shirley, 2nd Earl Ferrers Mary Levinge
Known for	Methodism

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (née Shirley; 24 August 1707 – 17 June 1791) was an English Christian and religious leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She founded an evangelical branch in England and Sierra Leone, known as the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion.

She helped finance and guide early Methodism and was the first principal of Trevecca College, Wales, established in 1768 to train Methodist ministers. With the construction of 64 chapels in England and Wales, plus mission work in colonial America, she is estimated to have spent over £100,000 on these activities, a huge sum when a family of four could live on £31 per year.^[1]

A regular correspondent of George Whitefield and John Wesley, she is also remembered for her adversarial relationships with other Methodists.