William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor

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William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor

William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (born March 31, 1848 in New York City , United States , †  October 18, 1919 in Brighton , England ) was an American-British financier and politician . The middle name is derived from the city of Walldorf , the origin of the Astor family .

United States

William Waldorf was the only child of John Jacob Astor III , one of the richest men in the United States of his time. He was raised in Germany ( University of Göttingen ) and Italy, later he studied at the Law School of Columbia University .

He then worked as a lawyer and in the management of his father's group. In 1878 he married Mary Dahlgren Paul (1858-1894), with whom he had five children. After his marriage he became a politician and sat for the Republican Party in the House of Representatives and in the New York State Senate . His attempts to be elected to the United States Congress failed, however.

From 1882 to 1885 he served as the United States Ambassador to Rome . During this time he also wrote his two books. In 1890 his father died and William Astor bequeathed all of his fortune, making him one of the richest men in the United States.

In the same year he began planning the construction of a hotel to replace his previous home in the middle of New York. The 13-story Waldorf Hotel at the corner of 5th Avenue and 33rd Street, completed on March 4, 1893, was joined a few years later with the 16-story hotel next to it, which was inaugurated on November 1, 1897 by his cousin John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912) Astoria Hotel to the Waldorf Astoria . Both were demolished in 1929 to make way for the Empire State Building (350 Fifth Ave.). As early as 1925, the Astor heirs had sold both hotels for a total of $ 15 million. In 1931 the new Waldorf Astoria (301 Park Ave.) was built.

United Kingdom

After the death of his father in 1890 and after violent disputes with his aunt Caroline Schermerhorn Astor , William Astor emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom in September 1890. In 1899 he was naturalized there.

Astor was a shy, strict and, according to statements of his contemporaries, not very amiable. He despised his homeland and also published his views in his newspapers. In return, he was ridiculed by the New York press.

He first rented Lansdowne House in London before buying the large country house Cliveden near Taplow from Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster , in 1893 . In 1903 Astor finally bought Hever Castle , investing a lot of money and time in restoring it. He installed the entire balustrade from Villa Borghese . Here he had space for his painting collection and art objects.

He gave Cliveden in 1906 to his son Waldorf Astor (1879–1952) on the occasion of his marriage to Nancy Langhorne (1879–1964), the first woman in the British Parliament (1919–1945). Astor's youngest son, John Jacob Astor V (1886-1971), who was ennobled as Baron Astor of Hever in 1956 , received Hever Castle on the occasion of his wedding in 1916 with Lady Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound.

Astor was involved in thoroughbred breeding and his horses have won a number of major races in the UK. He also had literary interests; he wrote for The North American Review and has published two novels and several short stories . In 1893 he became the owner of the Pall Mall Gazette and Pall Mall Magazine , and later the Observer .

He used his great wealth to a considerable extent for charitable purposes, especially during the First World War . A Canadian Red Cross hospital was built on the Cliveden site.

William Waldorf Astor, 1914

For this reason, Astor was accepted into the hereditary nobility in 1916 as Baron Astor of Hever Castle and a year later made Viscount Astor of Hever Castle . He died in Brighton in 1919; the titles passed to his eldest son Waldorf Astor .

family

Children of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor and Mary Dahlgren Paul:

Works

  • Valentino: an historical romance of the sixteenth century in Italy. Charles Scribner's sons, New York 1885 ( archive.org ).
  • Sforza, a story of Milan. Charles Scribner's sons, New York 1889 ( archive.org ).
  • Pharoah's Daughter. 1890.
  • John Jacob Astor. Signed: William Waldorf Astor. In: The Pall Mall Magazine. 1899 ( archive.org ).

literature

  • Astor, William Waldorf. In: Allen Johnson (Ed.): Dictionary of American Biography. Volume 1. C. Scribner's Sons, New York 1943, p. 402 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Herbert C. Ebeling: William Waldorf Astor (1848-1919). Astor Foundation Walldorf, 2007.
  • John Turner: Astor, William Waldorf, first Viscount Astor (1848-1919), property owner and newspaper proprietor. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of January 2008 not viewed.
  • Astor, John Jacob . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 2 : Andros - Austria . London 1910, section The son of the last named, William Waldorf Astor (1848 – ⁠) , pp. 793–794 (English, full text [ Wikisource ] - here p. 794).
  • Astor, William Waldorf. In: Collier's New Encyclopedia. Volume 1. PF Collier & Son Company, New York 1921, p. 314 ( full text [Wikisource]).
  • Astor, William Waldorf. In: The Encyclopedia Americana . 1920 ( full text [Wikisource]).

Web links

predecessor Office successor
New title created Viscount Astor
1917-1919 		Waldorf Astor
George Perkins Marsh US envoy in Rome
November 21, 1882–1. March 1885 		John Stallo
personal data
SURNAME Astor, William Waldorf, 1st Viscount Astor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Astor, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American-British financier and statesman
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , United States
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1919
Place of death Brighton , England