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
Jakie Astor Francis David Langhorne Astor (1912–2001), and Michael Langhorne Astor (1916–1980). Jakie was named after his relative John Jacob Astor IV, who perished on the Titanic in 1912. He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford and served in the Special Air Service and the Life Guards during World War II. In 1945, Astor contested the Plymouth Sutton seat in the British House of Commons that had been held by both his parents. Unsuccessful at first, he won the seat in 1951 as a member of the Conservative Party. From 1960 to 1974, he held the office of Justice of