 He came to Russia in 1784 with a group of 73 Scottish craftsmen hired in Edinburgh by Charles Cameron to work on construction sites in Tsarskoe Selo.Hastie and his compatriot Adam Menelaws made the most distinguished careers among this group, becoming notable professional architects.Hastie never returned to Scotland, and instead in 1792 he entered the service of the Russian Imperial Chancellery, designing model buildings for mass construction.