Sir Jacob Astley, 1st Baronet (ca. 163917 August 1729) of

Melton Constable Hall Melton Constable Hall is a large (Grade I listed building, listed) country house in the parish of Melton Constable, Norfolk, England designed in the Christopher Wren style and built between 1664 and 1670 for the Astley family who owned the estate ...

, Norfolk was an English

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician and baronet. Melton Constable Morris edited

Background

He was the oldest son of Edward Astley and his wife Elizabeth Astley, daughter of his uncle

Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

. Astley was educated first at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a private selective day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as an episcop ...

, then

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, and finally

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he matriculated on 19 June 1659. On 7 September of the same year on the death of his paternal uncle Sir Isaac Astley, 1st Baronet, he inherited the estates of Hill Morton, Warwickshire and

Melton Constable Melton Constable is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 518 in 225 households at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 200 ...

, and in 1688 the Maidstone, Kent estates of his cousin Jacob Astley, 3rd Baron Astley of Reading. In 1664 he commenced the building of the present Melton Constable Hall. He sold the Kent estate in 1720.

Career

Having been already knighted, Astley was created a Baronet, of Hill Morton, in the County of

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

on 26 June 1660. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Norfolk The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The High Sheriff of Norfolk was originally the principal law enforcement officer in Norfolk and presided at the assizes and other im ...

for 1664 before entering the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

in 1685 as MP for

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

until 1689. He represented the constituency again from 1690 to 1701, from 1702 to 1705 and a last time from 1710 to 1722. Astley was

in 1664 and Commissioner of Trade between 1714 and 1717.

Family

On 6 February 1661, he married Blanche Wodehouse, eldest daughter of

Sir Philip Wodehouse, 3rd Baronet Sir Philip Wodehouse, 3rd Baronet (24 July 1608 – 6 May 1681), was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1660. Wodehouse was the son of Sir Thomas Wodehouse, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Blanche ...

. They had four sons and a daughter. Astley was buried at Melton Constable few days after his death. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his second and oldest surviving son Philip. MP Philip Metcalfe was his great-grandson.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

* History of Parliament
Sir Jacob Astley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astley, Jacob 1630s births 1729 deaths People from North Norfolk (district) People educated at Norwich School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of England British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 High sheriffs of Norfolk Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Norfolk English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1702–1705 People from Rugby, Warwickshire