Thomas Gair Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde (5 February 1855 – 1 May 1933) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 industrialist, philanthropist, Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician, and peer.

Early life and career

Ashton was born at Fallowfield

Fallowfield

Ladybarn is the part of Fallowfield to the south-east. Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre is used by the University of Manchester: it was built by Edward Walters for Sir Joseph Whitworth, as were the Firs Botanical Grounds.-Religion:...

, Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, the son of Thomas Ashton and Elizabeth Gair, daughter of Samuel Stillman Gair of Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. The Ashton family had been prominent in the cotton industry for many years. He was educated at Rugby

Rugby School

Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

 and University College, Oxford

University College, Oxford

.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...

, and later managed the family business. Ashton was elected to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for Hyde

Hyde (UK Parliament constituency)

Hyde was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1918. It was based around the town of Hyde, Cheshire....

 in 1885, but lost his seat the following year. He unsuccessfully contested the same seat again in 1892, but in 1895 he was returned for Luton

Luton (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Luton in Bedfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....

, seat he held until 1911. The latter 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. Apart from his political career Ashton was a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 and Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

 and was invested as an Honorary Fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of Oxford University in 1923.

Family

Ashton married Eva Margaret James, daughter of John Henry James 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 as 2nd Baron Ashton of Hyde

Death

He died in May 1933, aged 78, and was succeeded in the title by his second but eldest surviving son Thomas Henry Raymond Ashton

Thomas Henry Raymond Ashton, 2nd Baron Ashton of Hyde

Thomas Henry Raymond Ashton, 2nd Baron Ashton of Hyde JP DL . The son of Thomas Gair Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde and Eva Margaret James. He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Ashton of Hyde on the latter's death on 1 May 1933...

. Lady Ashton of Hyde died in 1938.

External links