Sir Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading (1579 – 1652)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1640 (inscribed and dated)
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
749 x 622 mm (29 ½ x 24 ½ in)
Order this imageCollection
Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland
NT 1276843
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Sir Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading (1579 - 1652), English School, 1640. Inscribed, top left, in small yellow script: Jacob Astley: / Generell / Medeston / Kent; and mid right, in yellow: Aetat: 61 / Anno Do[m] / 1640.
Full description
The eighth child of Isaac Astley (1540 – 1598) of Melton Constable and Mary Waldegrave (1579 – 1645), daughter of Edward Waldegrave of Lawford, Essex. He began his military career as a teenager when he volunteered to join Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1597 Azores expedition, but then sought employment as a mercenary in Europe, serving at significant battles such as Nieuport in 1600 and eventually marrying a Dutch heiress, Agnes Impel, daughter of Henry Impel (a painting of Agnes is also on loan to the National Trust - collections number NT1276835). During his stay in Holland he gained favour at the exiled court of Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen and daughter of James I. She referred to him as ‘honest little Jacob’ (he was born short) and is thought to have engaged him as a tutor to her son Prince Rupert in military matters. He returned to England in the 1630s to take an infantry command under Charles I during the war against Scotland. At the outbreak of Civil War in 1642, he was appointed principle infantry commander to Charles I. On the eve of the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 he delivered the famous prayer: ‘O Lord! Thou knowest how busy I must be this day; if I forget thee, do not thou forget me … March on, boys!’ The leather surcoat (with brocade strips) that he wore at Edgehill survives at Seaton Delaval Hall. His importance to the Royalist forces increased throughout the war and he was appointed, amongst other posts, governor of Oxford and a leading member of the Kings Council of War. Astley also saw action at Reading, Gloucester and Lostwithiel, but his infantry were forced to surrender during the final major battle of the war in 1645 at Naseby. Astley escaped, only to be defeated again at Stow-in-the-Wold in 1646, whilst en route to the besieged King at Oxford. He was created Baron Astley of Reading in 1644, and was borne three issue: two sons and one daughter. The baronetcy became extinct in 1668 on the death of his grandson, who died without issue.
Provenance
on loan from Lord Hastings
Credit line
Seaton Delaval, The Hastings Collection
Marks and inscriptions
Top left, in small yellow script: Jacob Astey: / Generell / Medeston / Kent Mid right, in yellow: Aetat 61 / Anno Do[m] / 1640
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist