James Ashton was an Australian politician.

Born at Ashby near Geelong

Geelong, Victoria

Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...

 to coffee-roaster James Ashton and Mary Ann Kinsman Brittan, he attended Sandhurst Grammar School until he left at the age of ten to work in a printing office. He moved to Echuca

Echuca, Victoria

Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe river in Victoria, Australia. The Border town Moama is on the northern side of the Murray river in New South Wales. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Shire of Campaspe...

 at the age of thirteen and then to Hay

Hay, New South Wales

Hay is a town in the western Riverina region of south western New South Wales , Australia.  It is the administrative centre of Hay Shire Local Government Area and the centre of a prosperous and productive agricultural district on the wide Hay Plains....

. He spent the next period working as a station agent and then as a journalist, qualifying for the bar but not being admitted. On 6 March 1899 he married Helen, with whom he had four sons. A Free Trader

Free Trade Party

The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...

, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 as the member for Hay

Electoral district of Hay

Hay was an electoral district in the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of New South Wales created with the abolition of single-member electorates in 1894, mainly from the abolished electoral district of Balranald, and named after and including Hay. It was abolished in 1904, with the...

 in 1894, transferring to Goulburn

Electoral district of Goulburn

Goulburn is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Pru Goward of the Liberal Party of Australia....

 in 1898 and serving until 1907, when he was appointed to the Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

, serving until 1934. He was Secretary for Lands from 1904 to 1907 and an honorary minister from 1907 to 1909. Ashton died at Double Bay

Double Bay, New South Wales

Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Double Bay is located 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.Double Bay takes its name...

in 1939.