John Jacob Astor IV Alida Rebecca Armstrong, Astor was also a great-grandson of Senator John Armstrong, Jr. and Alida Livingston of the Livingston family. His maternal grandparents were Abraham Schermerhorn, a wealthy merchant, and socialite Helen Van Courtlandt White. He was also a nephew of financier and philanthropist John Jacob Astor III, and grandnephew of occasional poet John Jacob Astor, Jr. His sister Helen's husband was diplomat James Roosevelt "Rosey" Roosevelt, half-brother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the Roosevelt family. Another sister, Carrie, a noted philanthropist, was the wife of Marshall Orme Wilson (brother of banker Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr. and socialite Grace
William Waldorf Astor Observer". In 1912 he sold the "Magazine", and in 1914 made a present of the "Gazette" and "The Observer", with the building in Newton Street and its contents, to his son Waldorf Astor. In 1903 he 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. 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. He also added the Italian Garden (including Fernery) to display