ASTLEY, JACOB [SSNE 3842]

Surname

ASTLEY, ASTELEY, ASTELY, ASHLEY, ASHELEY

First name

JACOB, JAMES

Title/rank

OFFICER

Nationality

ENGLISH

Social status

OFFICER

Text source

Sir Jacob Astley joined the Earl of Southampton's regiment of the Anglo-Dutch Brigade in 1624, the same year he was knighted. He is said to have served in the Danish army (probably under Sir Charles Morgan [SSNE 89]). Drawn from the Dutch brigade, these troops formed an independent element within the Danish army, not swearing loyalty to the Danish king. Fissel has Astley in the Army of the Palatinate, the Anglo-Dutch Brigade and serving under Gustav II Adolf. He was certainly permitted to recruit for his regiment in Lincoln, Nottingham, Gloucester and Surrey for the army of James Marquis Hamilton [SSNE 1348]. He took part in several actions including the siege of Magdeburg around Christmas 1631. Along with many of Hamilton's troops, Astley's regiment was cashiered in October 1632. Thereafter he often served as a courier between the court of Elizabeth of Bohemia at the Hague and Britain throughout 1632 and 1633. On 17 November 1633 Astley was sent by Elizabeth of Bohemia to James Marquis Hamilton to whom she wrote that she hoped he might help the colonel in some way or another to gain advancement. Astley may have returned to Dutch service in 1637, where he would have served as a lieutenant-colonel until 1639 when he was replaced by John Cromwell [SSNE 8409].

 

Astley went on to serve as a general in the English Civil Wars, notably at Edgehill (1642). 

 

A portrait of Astley exists in the Netherlands:

https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/images/record?query=regiment&start=216

 

 

Sources:

Acts of the Privy Council of England, vol.46, 1630-1631, edited by P. A. Penfold (London: HMSO, 1964), pp.376-378, 8 June 1631; The Swedish Intelligencer: The Fourth Part (London, 1633), pp.110, 116; F.J.G. Ten Raa and F. De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger 1568-1795: onder toezicht van den Chef van den Generalen Staf, Deel III, 1609-1625 (Breda, 1915), p.181; M.C.Fissel, The Bishops' Wars: Charles I's Campaigns against Scotland, 1638-1640 (CUP, 1994), pp.10-11, 16-17, 79, 116, 287; Nadine Akkerman (ed.), The Correspondence Elisabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. II, 1632-1642 (Oxford: OUP, 2011), passim; Adam Marks, England, the English and the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 (unpublished Ph.D thesis,University of St Andrews, 2011), p.167; Ten Raa, F.J.G., and de Bas, F. Het Staatsche Leger, 1568-1795, IV (Breda, 1918), p. 243.

 

Simon Marsh has kindly provided the following source:

Gloucester Borough Records, GBR/H/2/2 Order and letter book, pp. 167-170 1631, 6,000 volunteers to be raised by Marquis of Hamilton for service with the king of Sweden; company of 150 volunteers to be raised in Glos.; Captain Wroughton of Sir Jacob Astley's regiment to raise volunteers in Glos. List of soldiers 'entertained' by Capt. Wroughton including some from Gloucester. 

 

Bishops War; English Civil War

 

This entry updated by Mr Jack Abernethy.

Service record

ENGLAND, THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, ANGLO-DUTCH BRIGADE, SOUTHAMPTON'S REGIMENT

Arrived 1624-01-01, as LIEUTENANT COLONEL

Departed 0000-01-01

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

DENMARK-NORWAY, CHARLES MORGAN

Arrived 1627-01-01, as OFFICER

Departed 1629-01-01, as OFFICER

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

STUART KINGDOMS, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, HAMILTON'S ARMY (ASTLEY'S REGIMENT)

Arrived 1631-06-08, as COLONEL

Departed 1632-10-01, as COLONEL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, ANGLO-DUTCH BRIGADE

Arrived 1637-12-08, as LIEUTENANT-COLONEL

Departed 1639-04-16, as LIEUTENANT-COLONEL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

STUART KINGDOMS, ENGLAND, ROYALIST ARMY, EDGEHILL

Arrived 1642-10-23, as MAJOR GENERAL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY