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
Baron Astor of Hever Baron Astor of Hever Baron Astor of Hever, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1956 for the Hon. John Jacob Astor, a prominent newspaper proprietor and Conservative politician. He was the fourth child of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor. Lord Astor of Hever was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Kent between 1972 and 1982. , the title is held by the latter's eldest son, the third Baron, who succeeded in 1984. He is one