Richard Ashton was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 between 1601 and 1610.

Ashton entered Grey's Inn in the 1570s as one of two individuals of that name, and is reported in 1584 as a Lancashire man and counsellor of Greys Inn who held mass in his chamber. In 1601, he was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Newton

Newton (UK Parliament constituency)

Newton was a parliamentary borough in the county of Lancashire, in England. It was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1559 to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

. He was steward of Newton by 1603. In 1604, he was re-elected MP for Newton.