John Jacob Astor IV IV was born on July 13, 1864 at his parents' country estate Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York. He was the youngest of five children and only son of businessman, collector, and race horse breeder/owner William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn. His four elder sisters were Emily, Helen, Charlotte, and Caroline ("Carrie"). He was a great-grandson of fur-trader John Jacob Astor and Sarah Cox Todd, whose fortune made the Astor family one of the wealthiest in the United States. Astor's paternal grandfather William Backhouse Astor, Sr. was a prominent real estate businessman. Through his paternal grandmother, Margaret
John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever of Hever, "of Hever Castle, in the County of Kent". In 1962, he moved from England to France. He died on 19 July 1971 in Cannes, France. Selected artworks from the family's vast collection were bequeathed to the National Gallery including the prized ""Thames below Westminster"" by Claude Monet. John Jacob V and Violet are buried together on the grounds of Hever Castle, which, since 1983, has been owned by Broadland Properties Limited and is a major tourist attraction. Eldest son Gavin succeeded him as Baron. John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob Astor V, 1st