Edward Astley, 22nd Baron Hastings

Edward Astley, 22nd Baron Hastings ( April 14, 1912 - April 25, 2007 ) was a British noble (Herditary Peer) and a member of the House of Lords .

Astley attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University's agricultural faculty . He learned Italian in Florence . He then returned to England and joined the Army in a Cold Stream Guards reserve while working for the Gold Coast Selection Trust . He undertook an extensive trip through the USA, from which he returned to England after the outbreak of World War II. After the withdrawal of the British troops from Dunkirk, he initially served in the Cold Stream Guards, but was then transferred to the military reconnaissance unit of the Intelligence Corps and was deployed in North Africa and Italy. In Milan and Trieste , as part of the psychological warfare, he ran two radio stations, some of which were in English. In Trieste he was also responsible for the local theater. The conductor Herbert von Karajan got a job from him and, at Astley's instigation, joined the Vienna Philharmonic . However, the relationship between Karajan and Astley cooled off because Karajan suspected Astley of a relationship with his wife.

Astley returned to London after his discharge from the Army and served on the board of directors of the London and Eastern Trade Bank . In 1951 he bought a farm in what was then the British colony of Southern Rhodesia near what was then Salisbury . He grew tobacco, peanuts, and corn on the farm. In Salisbury he met his future wife Catherine Hinton, whom he married in 1954. After the death of his father in 1956, he inherited his title and moved back to England and took over his seat in the House of Lords. 1960 he was appointed as Lord in wating a whip for the Conservative Government Group in the House of Lords and then a Parliamentary Secretary for Housing Minister Keith Joseph. After the change of government in 1964, he emerged mainly through his rejection of the new agarland administration by the government, which he perceived as nationalization. He was also an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Harold Wilson's policy towards Rhodesia. Astley did not sell his farm in Rhodesia to the government of President Robert Mugabe until 1982 . While living in Rhodesia, he was the local chairman of the United Federal Party and later supported the United Rhodesia Party under Garfield Todd .

Astley was a longtime patron of the Royal Ballet and the fact that his second born son has Down syndrome made him step up to work for people with disabilities. For over 50 years he devoted himself to the restoration and partial reconstruction of the Seaton Delaval Hall manor north of Newcastle upon Tyne in Northumberland , where he lived from the late 1980s until his death.

He had two sons and a daughter with his wife, and a stepson and a stepdaughter from his wife's first marriage. He lost his seat in the House of Lords through the House of Lords reform in 1999 . The title inherited from his son Delaval Astley, 23rd Baron Hastings .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lord Hastings obituary in The Daily Telegraph , May 5, 2007, accessed January 29, 2015

Web links

• Lord Hastings obituary in The Guardian , May 29, 2007, accessed January 29, 2015

predecessor	Office	successor
Albert Astley	Baron Hastings 1956-2007	Delaval Astley