Jakie Astor

Major Sir John Jacob Astor VII,  (29 August 1918 – 10 September 2000) was an English politician and sportsman. He was a member of the prominent Astor family.

Early life
John Jacob Astor VII was born 29 August 1918, the youngest of the four sons of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor and Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (1878–1964). His mother, Viscountess Astor, was the first woman elected to Parliament to take her seat in Parliament. His siblings in include Robert Gould Shaw III (1898–1970), his half-brother from his mother's first marriage, William Waldorf Astor II (1907–1966), Nancy Phyllis Louise Astor (1909–1975), 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.

Education and military service
He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford and served in the Special Air Service and the Life Guards during World War II.

Public service
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 the Peace for Cambridgeshire.

In 1967, Astor was appointed High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, serving until 1968.

Later career
Sir Jakie was a Thoroughbred horse racing enthusiast who won a number of prestigious races including the St. Leger Stakes. He owned the West Ilsley Stables, where Dick Hern trained.

In 1978, he won a knighthood for his contributions to agriculture due in part from the success of his 1,900-acre farm at Hatley Park in Cambridgeshire, as well as his chairmanship of the Agricultural Research Council.

Personal life
Astor was married three times. He married firstly on 23 October 1944 to Ana Inez "Chiquita" Carcano y Morra (1918–1992), daughter of the Argentine ambassador (from 1942-1946 ) and a prominent Catholic woman, which hurt his relationship with his mother. His mother had abandoned the Church of Rome for Christian Science. Ana's sister, Stella Carcano y Morra, married William Ward, 4th Earl of Dudley in 1946. Before their divorce in 1972, Jakie and Ana had three children:
 * Michael Ramon Langhorne Astor (b. 1946), who married Daphne Warburg, daughter of Mary and Edward M. M. Warburg, in 1979.
 * Stella Inez Astor (b. 1949)
 * John William Astor (1962–1963), who died as an infant.

In 1976, Astor married Susan Eveleigh Sheppard. That marriage too ended in divorce in 1985 and in 1988 Astor married Marcia de Savary, former wife of Peter de Savary, to whom he remained married until his death in 2000. There were no children from the second or third marriages.

Honours and awards

 * Knight Bachelor 3 June 1978
 * Member of the Order of the British Empire 1 February 1945
 * Emergency Reserve Decoration 30 May 1989
 * Légion d'Honneur (France)
 * Croix de Guerre (France)