She was the daughter of Sir John Davies (1569–1626) of Englefield, Berkshire, a prominent courtier in the reigns of James I and Charles I and himself a poet. Her mother was notorious as the "mad prophetess" Dame Eleanor Davies (1590–1652), sister of the executed Lord Castlehaven. At the young age of ten years, her father arranged a marriage for her with Ferdinando Hastings, son and heir of Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon (1586–1643).
The Earl was aristocratic but poor. Davies was wealthy and ambitious, and had earlier purchased one of the Earl"s estates) Now Lucy Hastings, she was tutored by Bathsua Makin and became fluent in French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. She translated the Latin poems of Peter du Moulin.
The Hastings family estate, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, was taken by Parliamentary forces in March 1646.
The surrender terms demanded that the Castle be demolished, and the family moved to their estate at Donington Park. When the sixth Earl died on 13 February 1656, he was succeeded by Theophilus Hastings, the couple"s fourth and sole surviving son.
Lucy Hastings" poems were not published in her lifetime, as was usually the case for women who wrote in this historical era. Her work has gained more critical attention in the general rediscovery of women writers of previous centuries in the contemporary era.
