Walter Aston, 3rd Lord Aston of Forfar
Walter Aston, 3rd Lord Aston of Forfar (1633 – 20 November 1714) was a son of Walter Aston, 2nd Lord Aston of Forfar, and Lady Mary Weston, daughter of Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland.
He succeeded his father as Lord Aston of Forfar in the peerage of Scotland in 1678; he resided mainly at Tixall in Staffordshire.
He was twice married, first marrying the widow Eleanor Blount Knightley of Soddington in Worcestershire, England, who died in 1674. He next married Catherine Gage of Firle in Sussex, who died in 1720.
Like his father, he was an ardent Roman Catholic, who acted as the effective leader of the large Catholic community in Staffordshire.[1] As such, he was a principal target of informers during the Popish Plot, in particular his former steward Stephen Dugdale, whom he had dismissed for gambling. In revenge Dugdale gave perjured evidence which sent Aston to the Tower of London in 1679 on charges of conspiracy to kill King Charles II[2] although he was never brought to trial, and was released on bail in the summer of 1680.[3]
He died in 1714, and was succeeded by his third but eldest surviving son Walter Aston, 4th Lord Aston of Forfar. A younger son, Charles Aston, served with the British Army in Ireland and was killed in action at the Battle of the Boyne, 1 July 1690.
References
- Paul, James Balfour. (1904.) "The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage, Volume I". David Douglas: Edinburgh, pp. 411–412. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Lord Ferrers |
Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire 1687–1689 |
Succeeded by The Lord Paget |
| Preceded by The Earl of Shrewsbury |
Custos Rotulorum of Staffordshire 1688–1689 | |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by Walter Aston |
Lord Aston of Forfar 1678–1714 |
Succeeded by Walter Aston |
|