William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor
| Viscount Astor | |
|---|---|
 William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor |
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| Born | William Waldorf Astor 31 March 1848 New York City, New York, United States of America |
| Died | 18 October 1919 (aged 71) Brighton, East Sussex, England |
| Title | Viscount Astor |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Waldorf Astor |
| Spouse(s) | Mary (Mamie) Dahlgren (1878-1894) |
| Parents | John Jacob Astor III (father) Charlotte Augusta Gibbs (mother) |
William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (31 March 1848 - 18 October 1919) was a financier and statesman and a member of the prominent Astor family.
Contents |
Biography
William Astor was born in New York City, the only child of John Jacob Astor III (1822-1890) and Charlotte Augusta Gibbes (c. 1825-1887). He was educated in Germany and in Italy before studying at Columbia Law School. He worked shortly in law practice and in the management of his father's estate. In 1878 he married Mary Dahlgren Paul (1858-1894) and went into politics, serving as a New York state assemblyman and senator. Astor was likely elected with help from the boss of the New York State Republican machine, notorious Roscoe Conkling, with whom his family was involved. He was twice defeated in his bids for a seat in the United States Congress. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur appointed Astor Minister to Italy, a post he held until 1885. ("Go and enjoy yourself, my dear boy," the president told Astor.) While living in Rome, Astor developed a life-long passion for art and sculpture.
Upon the death of his father in early 1890, William Waldorf Astor inherited a personal fortune that made him the richest man in America. On November 7, 1890, plans were filed with the New York City Building Department to construct a new hotel on the site of William Astor's residence. In 1891, after a family feud with his aunt Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor over matters of social seniority, Astor and his family moved to England, a decision that was published throughout all the major newspapers. Although the owner of the Waldorf Hotel built where his home had stood, William Astor visited it only once in his lifetime. In 1897, his cousin, John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912) built the Astoria Hotel adjoining the Waldorf, and the complex then became known as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Arriving in England, at first Astor rented Lansdowne House in London until 1893 when he purchased a country estate at Cliveden-on-Thames in Taplow, Buckinghamshire from Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster. In 1899 Astor became a British subject and in 1903 acquired Hever Castle near Edenbridge, Kent about 30 miles south of London. The huge estate, built in 1270 was where Anne Boleyn lived as a child. William Waldorf Astor invested a great deal of time and money to restore the castle, building what is known as the "Tudor Village" and creating a lake and lavish gardens. In 1905 he gave his son William Waldorf Astor II and his new daughter-in-law, the former Nancy Langhorne, the Cliveden estate as a wedding present.
Death
He died of congestive heart failure in the lavatory of his Brighton, Sussex, England home. [1][2] His ashes were buried under the marble floor of the chapel at Cliveden.
Bibliography
- Valentino: An Historical Romance of the Sixteenth Century in Italy (1885)
- Sforza, a Story of Milan (1889)
- Pharaoh's Daughter and Other Stories (1990)
Children
- Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879-1952), married Nancy Langhorne (1879-1964)
- Pauline (1880-1972), married on 29 October 1904, Herbert Henry Spender Clay (1875-1937). Their second daughter Rachel Pauline (1907-?) married The Hon. David Bowes-Lyon (1902-1961), the youngest son of 14th Earl of Strathmore, and brother of H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
- John Rudolph (1881-1881)
- John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever (1886-1971)
- Gwendolyn Enid (1889-1902)
References
- ^ "Viscount Astor Died Suddenly of Heart Disease. Stricken Saturday Morning, After Having Passed Part of Preceding Day Outdoors. Body Will Be Cremated and the Ashes Placed in Private Chapel at Cliveden. Peerage Came as Reward for War Gifts. Realty Holdings Here Valued at $60,000,000. Little Known to British Public. Estate Will Pay a Heavy Tax. His Pursuit of Title Evoked Bitter Criticism. Became a British Subject in 1899. Peerage Followed War Gifts.". New York Times. October 20, 1919. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9507E5D81038EE32A25753C2A9669D946896D6CF. Retrieved 2008-08-01. "Viscount Astor died yesterday morning. His death, which was from heart disease, was unexpected."
- ^ Kaplan, Justin. When the Astors Owned New York. New York: Viking, 2006.
External links
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Astor, John Jacob". Encyclopí¦dia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article also has a paragraph on William Waldorf Astor.- "Astor, William Waldorf". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
- "Astor, John Jacob". Appletons' Cyclopí¦dia of American Biography. 1900. This article also has a paragraph on William Waldorf Astor.
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Viscount Astor 1917-1919 |
Succeeded by Waldorf Astor |
| New creation | Baron Astor 1916-1919 |
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