1848 - 1919 (71 years)
Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
1848 - 1919 (71 years)
Birth |
31 Mar 1848 |
New York, New York, USA |
Died |
18 Oct 1919 |
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Father |
John Jacob Astor, III, b. 10 Jun 1822 |
Mother |
Charlotte Augusta Gibbes |
Married |
1846 |
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Family |
Mary Dahlgren Paul, b. 1858 |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
Children |
+ | 1. William Waldorf Astor, Jr., b. 19 May 1879 |
+ | 2. Pauline Astor, b. 1880 |
| 3. John Rudolph Astor, b. 1881 |
| 4. Gwendolyn Enid Astor, b. 1884 |
+ | 5. Baron John Jacob Astor, V, b. 20 May 1886 |
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1858 - 1894 (36 years)
Birth |
1858 |
Died |
22 Dec 1894 |
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Father |
James W. Paul |
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Family |
William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
Children |
+ | 1. William Waldorf Astor, Jr., b. 19 May 1879 |
+ | 2. Pauline Astor, b. 1880 |
| 3. John Rudolph Astor, b. 1881 |
| 4. Gwendolyn Enid Astor, b. 1884 |
+ | 5. Baron John Jacob Astor, V, b. 20 May 1886 |
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1822 - 1890 (67 years)
Birth |
10 Jun 1822 |
Died |
22 Feb 1890 |
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Father |
William Backhouse Astor, b. 1792 |
Mother |
Margaret Rebecca Armstrong, b. 1799 |
Married |
1818 |
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Family |
Charlotte Augusta Gibbes |
Married |
1846 |
Children |
+ | 1. William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
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- 1887
Died |
1887 |
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Father |
Thomas Stanyarne Gibbes |
|
Family |
John Jacob Astor, III, b. 10 Jun 1822 |
Married |
1846 |
Children |
+ | 1. William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
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1858 - 1894 (36 years)
Birth |
1858 |
Died |
22 Dec 1894 |
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Father |
James W. Paul |
|
Family |
William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
Children |
+ | 1. William Waldorf Astor, Jr., b. 19 May 1879 |
+ | 2. Pauline Astor, b. 1880 |
| 3. John Rudolph Astor, b. 1881 |
| 4. Gwendolyn Enid Astor, b. 1884 |
+ | 5. Baron John Jacob Astor, V, b. 20 May 1886 |
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1879 - 1952 (72 years)
Birth |
19 May 1879 |
Died |
1952 |
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Father |
William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
Mother |
Mary Dahlgren Paul, b. 1858 |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
|
Family |
Nancy Witcher Langhorne, b. 19 May 1879 |
Married |
3 May 1906 |
Children |
+ | 1. William Waldorf Astor, III, b. 13 Aug 1907 |
+ | 2. Nancy Phyllis Astor, b. 1909 |
+ | 3. Francis David Langhorne Astor, b. 1912 |
+ | 4. Michael Langhorne Astor, b. 1916 |
+ | 5. John Jacob Astor, VII, b. 1918 |
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1880 - 1972 (92 years)
Birth |
1880 |
Died |
1972 |
|
Father |
William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
Mother |
Mary Dahlgren Paul, b. 1858 |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
|
Family |
Lt. Col. Herbert Henry Spencer-Clay, b. 4 Jun 1875 |
Married |
29 Oct 1904 |
Children |
| 1. Phyllis Mary Spencer-Clay, b. 1905 |
+ | 2. Rachel Pauline Spencer-Clay, b. 19 Jan 1907 |
| 3. Sybil Gwendolin Spencer-Clay, b. 1910 |
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1881 - 1881 (0 years)
Birth |
1881 |
Died |
1881 |
|
Father |
William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
Mother |
Mary Dahlgren Paul, b. 1858 |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
|
1884 - 1902 (18 years)
Birth |
1884 |
Died |
1902 |
|
Father |
William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
Mother |
Mary Dahlgren Paul, b. 1858 |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
|
1886 - 1971 (84 years)
Birth |
20 May 1886 |
Died |
1971 |
|
Father |
William Waldorf Astor, b. 31 Mar 1848, New York, New York, USA |
Mother |
Mary Dahlgren Paul, b. 1858 |
Married |
6 Jun 1878 |
|
Family |
Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, b. 28 May 1889 |
Married |
28 Aug 1916 |
Children |
+ | 1. Baron Gavin Astor, b. 1 Jun 1918 |
+ | 2. Living |
+ | 3. John Astor, b. 26 Sep 1923 |
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Name |
William Waldorf Astor |
Birth |
31 Mar 1848 |
New York, New York, USA |
Gender |
Male |
Death |
18 Oct 1919 |
Person ID |
I158205 |
Geneagraphie |
Last Modified |
26 Apr 2003 |
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Notes |
- Named for his grandfather and the village of origin of the Astor family in Germany
1st Viscount Astor in 1917
American ambassador in Italy 1882-1885
built Waldorf hotel in 1893
bought Cliveden-on-Thames of the Duke of Westminster
At the age of 29 he was elected to the New York State Legislature and this early success encouraged him to run for the US Congress. He failed twice, allegedly because of the popular rejection of his large fortune and the attacks upon the Astor tenement practices. This terminated William Waldorf Astors political career in America, although he later served as president Chester Arthur’s ambassador to Italy for a short time.
Seeking other ways to distinguish himself, William Waldorf Astor built a luxurious hotel on his property on 5th Avenue and called it the Waldorf. William Waldorf Astor merely sought to leave his landmark in New York City and there was already an antecedent in the Astor Hotel, which was built by his great grandfather half a century earlier. The New York Society was appalled by this commercial building in an area which was primarily reserved to the mansions of the Upper Ten. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor was specially offended and the incident ended with her son John Jacob Astor IV, William Waldorfs cousin, building another elegant hotel next to the Waldorf and calling it the Astoria. The two establishments were run as one until 1929, when the Empire State Building was built on the lot. A new Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was built on Park Avenue, another Astor landmark in New York.
The Astors tried themselves as Society leaders in New York, but failed there two, with Williams’ aunt Caroline Astor unwilling to leave her turf to her much younger niece-in-law.
As a consequence of all these annoyances, William Waldorf Astor moved his family to England, bought Cliveden, the Italian style estate of the Duke of Westminster, England’s richest landlord and settled there to live as an English aristocrat. William Waldorf Astor then set out to influence the public opinion in England, buying first the Pall Mall Gazette and later the much more influential Sunday Observer. This started the Astors newspapers enterprises in England. In 1899, William Waldorf Astor relinquished his American citizenship and became a British subject. In 1903, Astor purchased Hever Castle, a 13th century moated manor house, once owned by Anne Boleyn’s father. The Astors also had a large house in London as well as hunting and fishing resorts in Northern England and Scotland.
Through his ownership of the Observer and thanks to generous gifts to the Conservative Party, William Waldorf Astor soon became an influent member of the English Aristocracy, being made a Baronet in 1916 and a Viscount in 1917. This gave him access to the House of Lords, the Upper House of Parliament in England, which came closest to Astors ideal form of democratic representation, where the well born have their place by merit or inheritance, rather by the more ephemeral popular vote. There is no doubt that Viscount Astor felt more at home in Edwardian England than in America.
When (Viscount) William Waldorf Astor died in 1919, he left an estate that was still in excess of 100'000'000 $, most of it in New York City real estate. Inheritance taxes, which were now also levied in America cut the inheritance of his children to less than half of this amount, but the English branch of Astor family was still wealthy, though its individual members were no longer counted among the croesuses. Viscount Astor left his title to his oldest son Waldorf Astor, who had already received the Cliveden estate as a wedding present. John Jacob Astor received Hever Castle and would gain a title of his own energies.
Fortune:46,173,690 $ (1919)
125,000,000 $ 1900
Activity : Real Estate
Main property: New York City real estate
Other activities : Hotels, Banking
Associated properties:Waldorf Astoria (New York), Bank of NewYork
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