John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever
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Lieutenant Colonel The Right Honourable The Lord Astor of Hever |
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John Jacob Astor V, 1st Baron Astor of Hever
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 May 1886 Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | 19 July 1971 (aged 85) Cannes, France |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) |
Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (1918–1965; her death) |
| Relations |
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| Children |
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| Parents |
William Waldorf Astor Mary Dahlgren Paul |
| Alma mater |
Eton College New College, Oxford |
| Olympic medal record | ||
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Representing the  United Kingdom
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| Men's rackets | ||
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1908 London | Men's doubles |
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1908 London | Men's singles |
Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob Astor V, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, DL (20 May 1886 – 19 July 1971) was an American-born English newspaper proprietor, politician, sportsman, military officer, and a member of the Astor family.
Astor was born in Manhattan, New York City in 1886, the fourth child of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (1848–1919), and Mary Dahlgren Paul (1858–1894). He was five years old when his family left New York to live in England. He was raised on an estate purchased by his father at Cliveden-on-Thames in Buckinghamshire and was educated at Eton College and at New College, Oxford. Upon his father's death in 1919, John Jacob V inherited Hever Castle near Edenbridge, Kent, where he lived the life of an English country gentleman.
John Jacob Astor V represented Great Britain in rackets at the 1908 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in the men's doubles competition together with Vane Pennell, and winning bronze in the men's singles event.
Astor had been the British Public Schools rackets champion in 1904–05, and in the same year as his Olympic competition he played singles and doubles in the British Army rackets championships.
Despite a later loss of leg, he was able to play and win against younger opponents at squash on a prosthetic limb.
He served in the 1st Life Guards, which he joined in 1906 after a year at Oxford, and was Aide-de-Camp to Baron Hardinge, Viceroy of India between 1911 and 1914. Within his regiment he was promoted Captain in 1913 and Major in 1920.
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