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SIR JOHN DIIGDALB ASTLEY
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ASTLEY, SIR JOHN DIIGDALB, Bart. (1828-1894), English soldier and sportsman, was a descendant of Lord Astley, and son of the 2nd baronet (cr. 1821). From 1848 to 1859 he was in the army, serving in the Crimean War and retiring as lieutenant-colonel. He married an heiress in 1858, and thenceforth devoted himself to horse-racing, pugilism and sport in general. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1873, and from 1874 to 188o was Conservative M.P. for North Lincolnshire. He was a popular figure on the turf, being familiarly known as " the Mate," and won and lost large sums of money. Just before his death, on the loth of October x894, he published some entertaining reminiscences, under the title of Fifty Years of my Life.