General Charles Ashley (c. 1770 – 21 August 1818) was an English musician.

Life

Ashley was the eldest son of John Ashley, who obtained some celebrity as a violinist, and a brother of Richard Ashley,

Charles Jane Ashley Charles Jane Ashley (1773 – 29 August 1843) was an English cellist. Ashley was born in London, the third son of musician John Ashley. He was a performer on the violoncello, and also for some time carried on the Covent Garden oratorios with his ...

, and John James Ashley. He was a pupil of

Giardini Giardini is a suburb of Palermo, Sicily. It is further off from the central city. It was important in the history of the Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") ...

and Barthelemon, and with his three brothers took part in the

Handel Commemoration The Handel festival or "Commemoration" took place in Westminster Abbey between 26 May and 5 June 1784, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel in 1759. The commemoration was organized by John Montagu, ...

in 1784, on which occasion the young musicians distinguished themselves by nailing the coat of an Italian violinist to his seat and filling his violin with halfpence, following which he complained so loudly that

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

sent to the orchestra to find out what occasioned the disturbance. General Charles Ashley led his father's orchestra at the Covent Garden oratorios, of which, after John Ashley's death, he became Joint manager with his brother Charles Jane. He became a member of the

Royal Society of Musicians The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the ''Fund for Decay'd Musicians'' by a declaration of trust sign ...

on 3 April 1791.Records of Roy. Soc. of Musicians On 2 March 1804 he married a Miss Chandler, and, having no family and an independent fortune, shortly afterwards retired from his profession. He died at King's Row,

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

, on 21 August 1818.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, General Charles 18th-century English people 18th-century English musicians 19th-century English musicians 1770s births 1818 deaths