Thomas Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde
The Lord Ashton of Hyde | |
|---|---|
 Ashton in 1895 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 February 1855 Fallowfield, England |
| Died | 1 May 1933 (aged 78) |
| Parent |
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Thomas Gair Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde (5 February 1855 – 1 May 1933), also known as Lord Ashton,[1] was a British industrialist, philanthropist, Liberal politician and peer.
Early life and career
[edit]Ashton was born at Fallowfield, Manchester, Lancashire, the son of Thomas Ashton (died 1898) and Elizabeth Gair, daughter of Samuel Stillman Gair (1789-1847) of Rhode Island. Ashton was baptised on 5 February 1855. The Ashton family had been prominent in the cotton and cloth manufacturing industry for many years. He was educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford, and later managed the family business.[1]
Political career
[edit]Ashton was elected to the House of Commons for Hyde in 1885 but lost his seat the following year. Ashton then married Eva Margret James in 1866 at All Saints Church. He unsuccessfully contested the same seat again in 1892, but in 1895 he was returned for Luton, a seat he held until 1911. That year, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ashton of Hyde in the County of Chester. During the First World War, he served as Chairman of the Cotton Exports Committee.[1]
Apart from his political career, Ashton was a Justice of the Peace for Cheshire and Mountfield, East Sussex, elected to membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on 18 October1881[2] and was invested as an Honorary Fellow of Oxford University in 1923.[1]
Family
[edit]
Two of Ashton's sisters married the Lupton brothers: Sir Charles Lupton to Katharine and Arthur Lupton to Harriet. Lord Ashton's first cousin, Helen Potter (née Leech 1839-1932), was the mother of Beatrix Potter.[3][4] Ashton married Eva Margaret James, daughter of John Lewis and his wife, Jane Ramsden Ashworth, in 1886. They had four children: two sons and two daughters:
- Thomas Henry Ashton (8 October 1887 – 20 September 1897)
- Marion Evelyn Ashton (born 1890) married Major Robert Wood.
- Margaret Joan Ashton (born 1893) married Hugh Whistler.
- Thomas Henry Raymond Ashton (2 October 1901 – 21 March 1983) succeeded his father in the barony.
Death
[edit]Ashton died on 1 May 1933, aged 78, in Vinehall Street, Sussex, and was succeeded in the title by his second but eldest-surviving son, Thomas Henry Raymond Ashton.[1] Lady Ashton of Hyde died in 1938.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Lord Ashton of Hyde Dead at Age of 78; Had Distinguished Career in British Politics and Business and Long Member of Parliament". New York Times. 2 May 1933. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
Lord Ashton was a justice of the peace for Lancashire, Cheshire and Sussex for many years and also was a governor of Manchester University
- ^ Complete list of the members & officers of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, from its institution on February 28th, 1781, to April 28th, 1896. And bibliographical lists of the manuscript volumes dealing with the affairs of the society, and of the volumes of the Memoirs and Proceedings published by the Society. With two appendices. Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. 1896.
- ^ a b Walker, Tim (22 July 2014). "Duchess of Cambridge is related to Beatrix Potter". The Daily Telegraph. p. 8.
- ^ a b Reed, Michael (5 April 2015). "Duchess of Cambridge not posh? Her ancestor was lord mayor of Leeds". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- ^ Debrett's Illustrated Peerage and Baronetage, Titles of Courtesy and the Knightage. Debrett's. 1957. p. 325. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
Sources
[edit]- Legg, L. G. Wickham Legg (editor). The Dictionary of National Biography, 1931-1940. Oxford University Press, 1949.
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs