PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Waldorf Astor was born in New York on May 19th 1879. His father brought the family to England in 1889, where Waldorf was educated at Eton College and then Oxford University. The family were financially well-off as his German-born Great Great Grandfather had amassed a fortune in America that was said to be £200 million pounds in 1890s value. He married Mrs Nancy Witcher Shaw (formerly Langhorne) in 1906 and the couple received as a wedding present from his father the house called Cliveden, near Taplow in Buckinghamshire. His father owned "The Observer" newspaper and was created Viscount Astor in 1917. In 1910 Waldorf Astor was elected the Conservative Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton, in which capacity he served until he succeeded to the title upon the death of his father in 1919. He resigned his seat in the House of Commons, which was filled shortly afterwards by his wife, Nancy Astor, who became the country's first woman MP. His poor health prevented him from serving in the armed forces during the First World War so he became an inspector of ordnance factories. He held office as Parliamentary Secretary to Lloyd George in 1917 and served in the Ministry of Food and at the Ministry of Health between 1918 and 1921. As the 2nd Viscount Astor, he was a founder member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and a great supporter of the League of Nations. In 1925 Lord and Lady Astor founded and financed the Virginia House Settlement in Looe Street, Plymouth. Viscount Astor was granted the Freedom of the City of Plymouth on July 2nd 1936. During the late 1930s both he and Lady Astor became well-known for their support of the policy to appease Hitler and hopefully avoid another war. However, that policy failed and when the Second World War began, he was elected to the office of Lord Mayor of Plymouth, only the second non-councillor in the City's history ever to be appointed to that office. He continued to serve until 1944. It was Lord Astor who invited Sir Patrick Abercrombie, the eminent town planner, to work with the City's Architect, Mr J Paton Watson, on the reconstruction of Plymouth after the War Lord Astor died at Cliveden on September 30th 1952. He had bought No. 3 Elliot Terrace on The Hoe as his Plymouth residence and it was there they he and his wife entertained their Majesties, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to tea on March 20th 1941, just before the start of the German blitz of Plymouth. The property was bequeathed to the City by his widow and has ever since been used as the Lord Mayor's residence. It is normally used to accommodate visiting dignitaries and the circuit judges.
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