Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 02.djvu/220

Aston session of his premises, and obtained payment of rent for the whole period of their occupation by the troops of the Revolution. With great difficulty he made his escape from Paris upon the issue of the decree for the detention of all English subjects in France. In 1803 the amphitheatre was again destroyed by fire, Astley's loss being estimated at 25,000l. Forthwith he laid the first stone of a new building, which was completed in time to open on Easter Monday, 1804. Astley now retired from active management in favour of his son, receiving, however, one clear half of the annual profits. He next attempted to establish an amphitheatre on the Middlesex side of the Thames, and obtaining a license through the influence of Queen Charlotte for ‘music, dancing, burlettas, pantomimes, and equestrian exhibitions,’ he opened the Olympic Pavilion on the site of the present Olympic Theatre. By this venture he lost 10,000l. In 1812 he sold the Olympic Pavilion to Elliston for 2,800l. and a small annuity to be paid during the life of Astley. There was but one payment of the annuity. Astley died in Paris, aged 72, and was buried in the cemetery of Père-la-Chaise. His son, ‘Young Astley,’ also an admired equestrian performer, to whom he had bequeathed the interest arising from his somewhat encumbered property, survived seven years only. He also died in Paris, and was interred beside his father in Père-la-Chaise. Philip Astley was the best horse-tamer of his time. He usually bought his horses in Smithfield, caring, as he said, ‘little for shape, make, or colour: temper was the only consideration.’ He rarely gave more than five pounds for a horse. He was a man of violent temper, peremptory of speech and rude of manner, but of great energy and notable integrity; and he was regarded with affection by the members of his company. He constructed in all nineteen amphitheatres for equestrian exhibitions.



ASTON, ANTHONY (fl. 1712–1731), dramatist and actor, was the son of a gentleman who had been master of the Plea Office in the King's Bench, and was educated as an attorney. He is said to have played in all the London theatres, but never continued long in any. In a pamphlet of 24 pages, entitled ‘A brief Supplement to Colley Cibber, Esquire, his Lives of the Famous Actors and Actresses,’ and written apparently about 1747, Aston states that he came on the stage at the latter end of the reign of William III. With his wife and son he travelled through England, and at the chief towns presented a medley entertainment of humorous scenes from various plays, with songs and dialogue of his own composition ‘to fill up the chinks of the slender meal.’ The ‘Spectator’ for 1 Jan. 1712 contained the advertisement of the popular comedian, Richard Estcourt, that he was about to open the Bumper Tavern in James Street, Covent Garden, and that his wines would be sold with the utmost fidelity by his old servant, Trusty Antony—it has been presumed that Aston was referred to—‘who had so often adorned both the theatres in England and Ireland.’ In 1717 he is said to have performed three times a week at the Globe and Marlborough Taverns in Fleet Street. In 1735 he petitioned the House of Commons to be heard against the Bill introduced by Sir John Barnard for restraining the number of theatres, and for the better regulating of common players of interludes, when he was permitted to deliver a ludicrous speech upon the subject, which was afterwards published in folio. Chetwood, whose history was published in 1749, believed that Aston was then living and ‘travelling still, and as well known as the post-horse that carries the mail.’ Aston's ‘Brief Supplement’ contains interesting mentions of Betterton, Mrs. Bracegirdle, and others. He was the author of ‘Love in a Hurry,’ a comedy performed without success at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, about 1709; and of ‘Pastora, or the Coy Shepherdess,’ an opera performed by the Duke of Richmond's servants at Tunbridge Wells in 1712. The ‘Fool's Opera, or the Taste of the Age,’ printed in 1731, ‘written by Matthew Medley and performed by his company in Oxford,’ has also been attributed to Aston.



ASTON, ARTHUR (d. 1649), royalist General, was the younger of the two sons of Sir Arthur Aston, knight, of Fulham, Middlesex, by his first wife, Christiana, daughter of John Ashton, of Penrith, Cumberland, and grandson of Sir Thomas Aston, knight, of Aston, in Bucklow hundred, Cheshire, in which county the 'ancient and knightly family' of Aston had long flourished. Probably he was a native of Fulham, but nothing is recorded concerning his birthplace or education. He went to Russia during the unsettled state of that kingdom which preceded and followed the assumption of the throne by Michael Federowitz in 1613. He was accompanied by a certain number of men, captains, and commanders, and furnished with letters of recommendation from James I, and he pro-