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Lord Astor of Hever was the fourth child of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (1848-1919) and Mary Dahlgren Paul (1858-1894). He was a boy of five when his family left New York to live in England. He was raised on an estate purchased by his father at Cliveden-on-Thames in Berkshire and was educated at Eton College and at New College, Oxford.
He served in the British army during World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of, rising to the rank of Colonel and on August 28, 1916 married Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound , (May 28, 1889-January 3, 1965), the daughter of the Earl of MintoThe title of Earl of Minto was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1813. The Earl bears the subsidiary titles of Viscount Melgund ( 1813) in the Peerage of the UK and Baron Minto ( 1797) in the Peerage of Great Britain, and is a baronet of Nov.
On his father's passing in 1919, John Astor inherited Hever CastleHever Castle in Kent, England, was the seat of the Boleyn family. Originally a farmhouse, it was built in the 13th century and converted into a manor in 1462 by Geoffrey Boleyn, who served as Lord Mayor of London. The remains of the timber dwelling can st near EdenbridgeEdenbridge can refer to either of the following: Edenbridge a town in the Weald of Kent, England. Edenbridge a symphonic metal band from Austria., KentThis article is about the English county of Kent. See also Kent (disambiguation). Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. The county town is Maidstone. Kent has land borders with East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London, and a defined boundary wi where he lived the life of an English country gentleman. In 1922, he purchased The TimesThe Times is a national daily newspaper in the United Kingdom. The Times is published by News International, a subsidiary of the News Corporation group, owned by Rupert Murdoch. For much of its history, the newspaper was regarded as without rival, the 'ne newspaper following the death of its owner, Alfred Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe). During his tenure as head of The Times, John Astor had the newspaper sponsor Edmund HillarySir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE (born July 20, 1919) is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, most famous for the first successful climb of Mount Everest. He reached the 29,035-foot summit on May 29, 1953 with Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay.'s expedition that made the first successful climb to the summit of Mount Everest. Astor remained chairman of the paper until 1959 when his son Gavin took over. In 1966, The Times was sold to Canadian newspaper tycoon, Roy Thomson.
In addition to his newspaper business, John Astor served in the Parliament of the United Kingdom for 23 years as a member of the House of Commons from 1922 to 1945 and in 1956, he was created Baron Astor of Hever.
On his passing in 1971 selected artworks from the family's vast collection were bequeathed to the National Gallery including the prized "Thames below Westminster" by Claude Monet.
John and Violet Astor are buried together on the grounds of Hever Castle, which, since 1983, has been owned by Broadland Porperties Limited and is a major tourist attraction.
Children: