Background
He was the son of the 2nd Baronet (created 1821) Sir Francis Dugdale Astley and wife Emma Dorothea Lethbridge and a descendant of Lord Astley.
He was the son of the 2nd Baronet (created 1821) Sir Francis Dugdale Astley and wife Emma Dorothea Lethbridge and a descendant of Lord Astley.
From 1848 to 1859, he was in the Scots Fusilier Guards, serving in the Crimean War and retiring as a Lieutenant-Colonel. He thereafter devoted himself to sports including horse racing, boxing and pedestrianism. He was a popular figure on the turf, known familiarly as "the Mate" and for winning and losing large sums of money.
Two famous jockeys that rode regularly for him were George Fordham and Charlie Wood.
He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1873. Just before his death in October 1894, he published some entertaining reminiscences under the title of Fifty Years of My This contains the first recorded appearance of the phrase "like a duck to water" - I always took to shooting like a duck to water.
His descendants include Samantha Cameron, wife of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.
21st United Kingdom Parliament]
From 1874 to 1880 was the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Lincolnshire.
