William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (31 March 1848 – 18 October 1919) was a
financier and
statesman and a member of the prominent
Astor family.
Biography
William Astor was born in
New York City, the only child of
John Jacob Astor III (1822-1890) and
Charlotte Augusta Gibbes (c. 1825-1887). He was educated in
Germany and in
Italy before studying at
Columbia Law School. He worked shortly in law practice and in the management of his father's estate. In 1878 he married Mary Dahlgren Paul (1858-1894) and went into politics, serving as a New York state assemblyman and senator. Astor was likely elected with help from the boss of the New York State Republican machine, notorious Roscoe Conkling, with whom his family was involved. He was twice defeated in his bids for a seat in the
United States Congress. In 1882,
President Chester A. Arthur appointed Astor
Minister to
Italy, a post he held until 1885. ("Go and enjoy yourself, my dear boy," the president told Astor.) While living in
Rome, Astor developed a life-long passion for art and sculpture.
Upon the death of his father in early 1890, William Waldorf Astor inherited a personal fortune that made him the richest man in America. On November 7, 1890, plans were filed with the New York City Building Department to construct a new hotel on the site of William Astor's residence. In 1891, after a family feud with his aunt
Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor over matters of social seniority, Astor and his family moved to England, a decision that was published throughout all the major newspapers. Although the owner of the Waldorf Hotel built where his home had stood, William Astor visited it only once in his lifetime. In 1897, his cousin,
John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912) built the Astoria Hotel adjoining the Waldorf, and the complex then became known as the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Arriving in England, at first Astor rented
Lansdowne House in
London until 1893 when he purchased a country estate at
Cliveden-on-Thames in
Taplow,
Buckinghamshire from
Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster. In 1899 Astor became a British subject and in 1903 acquired
Hever Castle near
Edenbridge,
Kent about 30 miles south of London. The huge estate, built in 1270 was where
Anne Boleyn lived as a child. William Waldorf Astor invested a great deal of time and money to restore the castle, building what is known as the "Tudor Village" and creating a lake and lavish gardens. In 1905 he gave his son
William Waldorf Astor II and his new daughter-in-law, the former
Nancy Langhorne, the Cliveden estate as a wedding present.
With ambitions to be part of the literary world, Astor wrote two novels, became the owner of the
Pall Mall Gazette and
Pall Mall Magazine, and in 1911 purchased the
The Observer. In 1915 Astor relinquished his holdings, giving them to his son
Waldorf Astor who sold the
Pall Mall Gazette and
Pall Mall Magazine but retained
The Observer. An avid lover of
thoroughbred horse racing, he acquired a large stable of horses that won a number of important British races.
Astor's move to England was influenced by his distrust of the American press. Newspapers famously quoted him as stating "America is not a fit place for a gentleman to live." Astor resented their branding him as a traitor and continued to be concerned about his reputation in the American press. In 1892 he even circulated false reports of his own death in order to see how the press would memorialize him. Unfortunately, his ploy was soon uncovered, and only damaged his reputation further.
Growing paranoia, fueled by anonymous threats to kidnap his children, was another component of Astor's decision to leave the United States. To maintain security at Cliveden, Astor blocked the grounds from public access. One of his townhouses had a system of trap doors and secret locks, and he slept with two revolvers at his side. At Hever Castle, guests could not spend the night and were kept out by a moat and drawbridge. The occult also pre-occupied Astor’s imagination. He wrote several fanciful short stories for the
Pall Mall Magazine and even investigated the possible presence of
Anne Boleyn’s ghost at Hever Castle.
As a British citizen, William Waldorf Astor used his great wealth for numerous public causes, especially during
World War I for which
King George V rewarded him with a barony, as
Baron Astor in 1916 and a year later was raised to
Viscount Astor, of
Hever Castle in the County of Kent.
Many of Astor's endeavors were attempts to distract himself from the boredom and dissatisfaction he felt with life. In his younger years, his family forbade him to marry the woman he loved because she had a family history of tuberculosis. Many relatives attribute this early defeat to his lifelong struggle with discontentedness and searching. Secondly, Astor did not attend college but was tutored privately which affected his ability to socialize with others. Lastly, his defeat at the hands of his Aunt regarding who the true "Mrs. Astor" was left him bitter and utterly discontented. These events marred the remainder of his life with disappointment and searching for contentment.
Death
He died of
congestive heart failure in the lavatory of his
Brighton,
Sussex,
England home. His ashes were buried under the marble floor of the chapel at Cliveden.
Bibliography
Children
- Gwendolyn Enid (1889–1902)
