Baronets Aston of Tixall (1611)
1st Baronet Aston, Walter Aston, b.1584, a.1611, d.1639
The Astons of Staffordshire were descended from minor nobility. Walter
Aston’s father, Sir Edward Aston, was appointed by Queen Elizabeth I to lead a
commission to examine the letters and papers of Mary, Queen of Scots, presumably
to obtain evidence of treasonous behaviour, and was later made Sheriff of
Staffordshire. Walter Aston was knighted in the Order of the Bath on the
Coronation of James VI as James I of England in 1603 and made a Gentleman of
the Privy Chamber for Prince Charles. He created 1st Baronet Aston
of Tixall, county Stafford, in the Baronetage of
England, in 1611 and became a Roman Catholic. As Ambassador to Spain from 1620
to 1625 he negotiated the marriage of Charles, then Prince of Wales, to the Infanta Maria Anna of Spain in 1622, and for this was later
created 1st Lord Aston of Forfar in the Peerage of Scotland, though
having no connection with Scotland.
Lords Aston (1627)
1st Lord Aston, Walter Aston, b.1584, a.1627, d.1639
He served again as Ambassador to Spain from 1635 to 1638.
2nd Lord Aston, Walter Aston, b.1609, a.1639, d.1678
Son of the 1st Lord and Gertrude Sadleir,
daughter of Sir Thomas Sadleir of Standon. A staunch Royalist, he fought at the siege of Lichfield. He retired
from active duty in 1649 and in 1660 he inherited the Standon
estates of his maternal uncle.
3rd Lord Aston, Walter Aston, b.1633, a.1678, d.1714
Son of the 2nd Lord and Mary Weston (b.1602-1603, d.c.1678),
daughter of Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland. A prominent Catholic, he was targeted during the Popish Plot and spent
several years in the Tower of London. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire
from 1687 to 1689, and remained loyal to James at the Glorious Revolution. In
1713 he took part in the election of Scottish Representative Peers, even though
the lords Aston had been excluded from sitting in the Scottish Parliament
because of their adherence to Catholicism.
4th Lord Aston, Walter Aston, b.1660, a.1714, d.1748
Son of the 3rd Lord and Eleanor Blount (b.?,
d.1674), daughter of Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baronet Blount of Sodington, county Worcester.
5th Lord Aston, James Aston, b.1723, a.1748, d.1751
Son of the 4th Lord and Anne Howard (b.?,
d.1723), daughter of Lord Thomas Howard and grand-daughter of Henry Howard, 6th
Duke of Norfolk. On his death, the baronetcy became extinct. As to the
lordship, the heir-male was Irish and never claimed the title, though the next
heir was recognised by the Crown. We continue the listing de jure.
6th Lord Aston, William Aston, b.1747, a.1751, d.1769
William Aston was a descendant of the 1st Lord’s uncle Robert
Aston. He lived in Beaulieu in County Louth in Ireland and never claimed the
title. During his lifetime, another distant relative went by the title of Lord Aston
of Forfar but since the heir-male was alive, this was affectation at best.
7th Lord Aston, Walter Aston, b.1732, a.1769, d.1805
Walter Aston was a descendant of William Aston, a younger uncle of the 1st
Lord, and was a watchmaker in London. He applied to be allowed to vote in the
election of Scottish Representative Peers but was refused, although he was granted
a pension by George III and referred to as Lord Aston by the King.
8th Lord Aston, Walter Hutchinson Aston, b.1769, a.1805, d.1845)
Son of the 7th Lord and Anne Hutchinson. He attended Christ Church College Oxford and petitioned the Crown to be
recognised as Lord Aston in 1819. In 1821 he became Vicar of Tardebigg in Worcester. He married but had no children.
The lordship is technically dormant rather than extinct as there are potentially
descendants of the 1st Lord in existence. Any such descendant would
render the last three holders mentioned above as nullified.
(Last updated: 02/03/2011)