William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor

The Right Honourable The Viscount Astor
William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor
Born	William Waldorf Astor 31 March 1848(1848-03-31) New York City, New York, United States of America
Died	18 October 1919(1919-10-18) (aged 71) Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom
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 very wealthy American who became a British nobleman. He was a member of the prominent Astor family.

Life in United States

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 was called to the United States Bar in 1875, and worked shortly in law practice and in the management of his father's estate. In 1878, he married Mary Dahlgren Paul (1858–1894).

He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1877, and to the Senate in 1879 where he served until 1881. 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. In 1881, Astor was defeated by Roswell P. Flower as a candidate for United States Congress. A second attempt at the seat also resulted in defeat. 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, Astor inherited a personal fortune that made him the richest man in America. Also in 1890, he began construction of the luxurious Waldorf Hotel on the site of his former residence. (His cousin, John Jacob Astor IV built the adjoining Astoria Hotel in 1897, and the complex then became the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. William, though the owner, visited it only once in his lifetime.)

Move to Great Britain

In response to a family feud which developed with his aunt Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor in 1891 over matters of standing in high society, Astor moved to Great Britain with his family. He rented Lansdowne House in London until 1893, when he purchased a country estate at Cliveden-on-Thames in Taplow, Buckinghamshire from the Duke of Westminster.

In the summer of 1892, Astor faked his own death by having his staff report to American reporters that he had died, apparently from pneumonia. However, the ruse was soon discovered, leading to Astor being mocked in the press.

Astor made several business acquisitions while living in London. In 1892, he purchased the Pall Mall Gazette, and in 1893 established the Pall Mall Magazine. In 1911, he acquired The Observer. In 1912 he sold the Magazine, and in 1914 made a present of the Gazette and The Observer, with the building in Newton Street and its contents, to his son Waldorf Astor.

In 1903 he 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.

In 1908, he opened the Waldorf Hotel in London's West End, seeking to establish an American-style hotel in the UK.

Philanthropy and peerage

Astor, having become a British subject in 1899, became interested in gaining British social distinction. Among the charities benefited by his gifts were The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street (to which he gave $250,000 in 1903); University College, London; the Cancer Research Fund; Oxford University; Cambridge University; the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; the British Red Cross Society; Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum; the Soldier and Sailors' Families Association; and the Women's Memorial to Queen Victoria. His gifts to the war charities included $125,000 to the Prince of Wales's National Relief Fund; a similar amount to Princess Louise's Officers' Families Fund; $200,000 to the British Red Cross Society; $25,000 to Queen Mary's Employment Committee; and a similar sum to the Lord Mayor's National Bands Fund. He gave $5,000 to King Edward's Hospital Fund annually starting with its founding in 1897.

Such gifts were often honored by the grant of a title of nobility to the benefactor. On 1 January 1916, he was offered and accepted a peerage of the United Kingdom under the title of Baron Astor of Hever Castle in the County of Kent. On 3 June 1917, Baron Astor was elevated to the rank of Viscount. The creation was controversial; it was felt by many that it represented a rich American buying his way into the British aristocracy.

Death

He died of congestive heart failure in the lavatory of his Brighton, Sussex, England home. 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

1. Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879–1952), married Nancy Langhorne (1879–1964) in 1906. His first marriage in 1897 ended in divorce 1903.
2. Pauline (1880–1972), married on 29 October 1904, Herbert Henry Spender Clay (1875–1937). They had three children. They had three daughters:- The eldest, Phyllis Mary, was born on 4 October 1905, and married 6 February 1932 Sir Philp Bouverie Bowyer Nichols, KCMG MC. 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. Their third daughter Gwendolyn died aged 1.
3. John Rudolph (1881–1881), no issue
4. John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever (1886–1971) married Lady Violet Mary Elliot [of the earls of Minto] (1889–1965) in 1916. They had 3 sons.
5. Gwendolyn Enid (1889–1902), no issue

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Astor
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Astor, John Jacob". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th 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' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.  This article also has a paragraph on William Waldorf Astor.
•  James Wood (1907). "Astor, William Waldorf". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. 

Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Viscount Astor 1917–1919	Succeeded by Waldorf Astor
	Baron Astor 1916–1919