Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Sir John Jacob "Jakie" Astor VII, (29 August 1918 – 10 September 2000) was an English politician and sportsman. He was a member of the prominent

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business sector, business, Socialite, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With Germans, German roots, some of their ancestry goes back to th ...

Early life

John Jacob "Jakie" Astor VII was born 29 August 1918 at

Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern Hi ...

, the family estate in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. He was the youngest of the four sons of

Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor, DL (19 May 1879 – 30 September 1952) was an American-born English politician and newspaper proprietor. He was a member of the Astor family. He was active in minor political roles. He was devoted to charita ...

and

Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945. Astor w ...

(1878–1964). His mother was the first woman elected to Parliament to take her seat in Parliament. His siblings include Robert Gould Shaw III (1898–1970), his half-brother from his mother's first marriage, William Waldorf Astor II (1907–1966), Nancy Phyllis Louise Astor (1909–1975), Francis David Langhorne Astor (1912–2001), and Michael Langhorne Astor (1916–1980). He was named after his relative

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He was among the most ...

, who perished on the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' in 1912. Educated at Eton and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, Astor then served in the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

and the Life Guards during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

In 1945, Astor contested the Plymouth Sutton seat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

that had been held by both his parents. Unsuccessful at first, he won the seat in 1951 as a member of the Conservative Party, losing it in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. From 1960 to 1974, he held the office of Justice of the Peace for

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

. In 1967, he was appointed High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, serving until 1968.

Later career

Astor was a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

enthusiast who won a number of prestigious races including the St. Leger Stakes. He owned the West Ilsley Stables, where

Dick Hern William Richard Hern (20 January 1921 – 22 May 2002) was an English Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and winner of sixteen British Classic Races between 1962 and 1995, and was Champion Trainer on four occasions. Following his early caree ...

trained. In 1978 he was granted a knighthood for services to agriculture, due to his chairmanship of the Agricultural Research Council. and the success of his 1,900-acre farms at Hatley Park, his home in

Personal life

Astor was married three times. He married firstly on 23 October 1944 to Ana Inez "Chiquita" Carcano y Morra (1918–1992), daughter of the Argentine ambassador (from 1942 to 1946) and a prominent Catholic laywoman, which hurt his relationship with his mother.Sykes (1984), p. 75Thornton (1997), p. 444 His mother had become a Christian Scientist. Ana's sister, Stella Carcano y Morra, married William Ward, 4th Earl of Dudley in 1946. Before their divorce in 1972, Jakie and Ana had three children: * Michael Ramon Langhorne Astor (b. 1946), who married Daphne Warburg (1949-2024), daughter of Mary and Edward M. M. Warburg, in 1979. * Stella Inez Astor (b. 1949) * John William Astor (1962–1963), who died as an infant. In 1976, he married secondly Susan Eveleigh Sheppard, that marriage too ended in divorce in 1985. In 1988, he married thirdly Marcia de Savary, former wife of Peter de Savary, to whom he remained married until his death in 2000. There were no children from the second or third marriages.

Honours and awards

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

3 June 1978 *

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

1 February 1945 * Emergency Reserve Decoration 30 May 1989 *

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(France) *

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

(France)

References

Citations

Book sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Astor, Jakie 1918 births 2000 deaths Military personnel from Buckinghamshire People educated at Eton College Alumni of New College, Oxford Jakie English people of German descent English people of American descent British Army personnel of World War II British Life Guards officers British racehorse owners and breeders Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English justices of the peace Members of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor British recipients of the Legion of Honour British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Special Air Service officers UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 Younger sons of viscounts High sheriffs of Cambridgeshire Politicians from Buckinghamshire