Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading

The Lord Astley of Reading
Born	1579 Melton Constable Hall
Died	February 1652
Allegiance	Royalist
Rank	Sergeant-Major General of the Infantry
Battles/wars	Battle of Edgehill, Siege of Gloucester, First Battle of Newbury, Battle of Naseby, Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold

Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading (1579 – February 1652) was a Royalist commander in the English Civil War.

He came from an established Norfolk family, and was born at Melton Constable Hall. His first experiences of war were at the age of 18 when he joined the Islands Voyage expedition in 1597 under the Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh to the Azores. In 1598 he joined Maurice of Nassau and Henry of Orange in the Netherlands, where he served with distinction, and afterwards fought under Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War. He was evidently thought highly of by the States-General, for when he was absent, serving under Christian IV of Denmark, his position in the Dutch army was kept open for him.

In 1622 Astley joined the household of Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England and her husband Frederick, King of Bohemia serving as tutor to Frederick's son Prince Rupert.

Returning to England with a well-deserved reputation, he was in the employment of Charles I in various military capacities. As "Sergeant-Major-General" of the infantry, he went north in 1639 to organize the defence against the expected Scottish invasion. Here his duties were as much diplomatic as military, as the discontent which ended in the Civil War was now coming to a head. In the ill-starred Bishops' Wars, Astley did good service to the cause of the king, and he was involved in the so-called "Army Plot".

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