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Biography of William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor 1848-1919

Paternal Family Tree: Astor

In 1829 Jane Waldo died. Her cousin, also Jane, inherited Hever Castle, Kent [Map]. Jane died in 1841. The castle as inherited by Edmund Wakefield Meade who was connected to the Waldo family by marriage, and had adopted the Waldo surname. Meade Waldo, great grandson of Edmund, sold the castle on the 27th of July 1903 to William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor.

On 31st March 1848 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor was born.

On 6th June 1878 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor (age 30) and Mary Dahlgren Paul (age 20) were married.

On 19th May 1879 [his son] Waldorf Astor 2nd Viscount Astor was born to William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor (age 31) and [his wife] Mary Dahlgren Paul (age 21).

On 20th May 1886 [his son] John Jacob Astor 1st Baron Astor was born to William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor (age 38) and [his wife] Mary Dahlgren Paul (age 28).

On 22nd December 1894 [his wife] Mary Dahlgren Paul (age 36) died.

1898. Hubert von Herkomer 1849 1914 (age 48). Portrait of William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor (age 49).

In On 3rd May 1906 [his son] Waldorf Astor 2nd Viscount Astor (age 26) and [his daughter-in-law] Nancy Witcher Langhorne Viscountess Astor (age 26) were married. The groom's father gave the couple the family estate of Cliveden, Buckinghamshire [Map]. They had met on an Atlantic voyage returning to Britain

The London Gazette 29454. Whitehall, January 28, 1916.

The King has been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to confer the dignity of a Baron of the said United Kingdom upon the undermentioned gentlemen, and the heirs male of their respective bodies lawfully begotten: —

Admiral Sir Charles William de la Poer Beresford (age 69), G.C.B., G.C.V.O. (commonly called Lord Charles William de la Poer Beresford), and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Beresford of Metemmeh, and of Curraghmore in the County of Waterford.

Sir Alexander Henderson, of Buscot Park, in the County of Berks, Baronet, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Baron Faringdon, of Buscot Park in the County of Berks.

Sir Thomas George Shaughnessy, K.C.V.O., and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Baron Shaughnessy, of the City of Montreal in the Dominion of Canada, and of Ashford in the County of Limerick.

William Waldorf Astor (age 67), of Hever Castle, in the County of Kent, Esquire, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Baron Astor, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent.

On 28th August 1916 [his son] John Jacob Astor 1st Baron Astor (age 30) and [his daughter-in-law] Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound Baroness Astor (age 27) were married. She the daughter of Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound 4th Earl Minto and Mary Caroline Grey Countess Minto (age 58).

In 1917 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor (age 68) was created 1st Viscount Astor.

On 18th October 1919 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor (age 71) died. His son [his son] Waldorf (age 40) succeeded 2nd Viscount Astor, 2nd Baron Astor.