Edward Ashe (c. 1673 – 1748) of
Heytesbury
Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster.
The civil parish includes most of the small neig ...
, Wiltshire was an English landowner, and
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Heytesbury
Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster.
The civil parish includes most of the small neig ...
for 52 years, from 1695 to 1747.
Between 1640 and 1750, Heytesbury was continuously represented by a member of the Ashe family. His grandfather,
Edward, father,
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, brother, and nephew, were also MPs for the seat.
During his time in Parliament, he is recorded as making only one intervention, in 1733. A reliable
Whig, and supporter of
Robert Walpole, in 1720, he was given a seat on the
Board of Trade, which he retained until 1746.
He died on 22 May 1748; he had no children from his marriage to Frances Luttrell, and his estate was inherited by his nephew, William Ashe, 1714 to 1750.
Biography
Edward Ashe was the eldest son of
William Ashe, and his first wife Anne Popham, daughter of
Alexander Popham
Alexander Popham (1605 – 1669) of Littlecote, Wiltshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1669. He was patron of the philosopher John Locke.
Early life
Popham was born at Little ...
, MP of Littlecote, Wiltshire. He had a brother, William (1675-1732), the second MP for Heytesbury from 1708 to 1722, and a sister, Elizabeth (1682-1768). She married Pierce A'Court, (1677-1725); her grandson, William Ashe A'Court, (c.1747-1817), inherited the Heytesbury estate.
In 1710, Edward married Frances Luttrell; they had no children.
Career
He graduated from
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road.
Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...
on 7 April 1690, and in the
1695 election, was nominated for
Heytesbury
Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster.
The civil parish includes most of the small neig ...
. His grandfather,
Edward, was a wealthy London merchant, who purchased the Heytesbury estate in 1641. The borough returned two MPs, and an Ashe family member, or connection, occupied these continuously from 1640 to 1770. with only 26 voters, only one election from 1690 to 1754 was contested.
Most of
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
supported Parliament in the
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...
, while his father was a
religious Independent. The Ashes were thus supporters of the 1688
Glorious Revolution, and reliable Whig voters. In 1696, Ashe voted for the execution of
Jacobite plotter,
Sir John Fenwick.
The Ashes were a large family; in the early 1700s, Edward and another seven direct relatives were MPs. He was also connected by marriage to
Viscount 'Turnip' Townshend, Whig
Secretary of State for the North, 1714 to 1717. Although out manoeuvred by Walpole for leadership of the party, he and his supporters remained an important faction.
As a result, Ashe held a number of government posts; he was
Storekeeper of the Ordnance
The Principal Storekeeper of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance and a member of the English (and later British) Board of Ordnance from its constitution in 1597. He was responsible for the care and maintenance of ...
from 1710 until 1712, when he was removed by the
1713 Tory government. Restored by the Whigs as
Clerk of the Ordnance
{{Infobox official post
, post = Office of the Clerk of the Ordnance
, body =
, nativename =
, insignia = File:Badge of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on a RML 10 inch 18 ton gun in Gibraltar.jpg
, insigniasize ...
in 1714, he lost office again when Townshend was defeated by his Whig rivals in 1718. Eventually, he was appointed to the
Board of Trade, which he retained until 1746, although he played very little part in its activities. His lengthy service meant that he was briefly
Father of the House.
He resigned his offices in 1746, on grounds of ill-health, and died on 22 May 1748; he was buried at St Peter and St Paul,
Heytesbury
Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster.
The civil parish includes most of the small neig ...
.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, Edward
1670s births
1748 deaths
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Wiltshire
Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford
Whig members of the Parliament of Great Britain
English MPs 1695–1698
English MPs 1698–1700
English MPs 1701–1702
English MPs 1702–1705
English MPs 1705–1707
British MPs 1707–1708
British MPs 1708–1710
British MPs 1710–1713
British MPs 1713–1715
British MPs 1715–1722
British MPs 1722–1727
British MPs 1727–1734
British MPs 1734–1741
British MPs 1741–1747
Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Wiltshire
Whig members of the pre-1707 English Parliament