The eldest son of Sir Jacob Astley, 16th Baron Hastings [1797-1859] and his wife Georgiana Carolina (née Dashwood), Jacob Henry Dalaval succeeded his father as 17th Baron in 1859. He served in The Life Guards and the Norfolk Militia. On 19 May 1860, he married Frances Cosham [d. 1884]. Having no children, he was succeeded by his brother, Delaval Loftus Astley, as 18th Baron Hastings.