Sir Herbert Ashman, 1st Baronet (11 June 1854 – 26 September 1914) was the first

Lord Mayor of Bristol The position of Lord Mayor of Bristol was conferred on the city in June 1899 (effective 15 November 1899) as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours and was confirmed by letters patent dated 1 April 1974. Prior to November 1899 the position of M ...

. He was born in

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, the son of Thomas Nathaniel Ashman and was educated at the Independent College,

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

. His father moved the family to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

when he was only a few months old, where Herbert joined his father's leather processing business at the age of 15. He later became head of his own company of Herbert Ashman & Co., leather factors, manufacturers and importers, based in Broadmead, Bristol. He was the Liberal Councillor of St Paul's ward from 1890 to 1900 and elected Mayor of Bristol in 1898 and 1899. On 12 November 1899 he was knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

at the Council House and on 15 November 1899 became Bristol's first Lord Mayor when the Queen conferred the honour of a Lord Mayoralty on the city. In 1907 he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

started he took on the important role of chairing the city's recruitment campaign. He was also the president of the

Anchor Society The Anchor Society CIO is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation based in Bristol, England which supports older people in need in the Bristol and Bath region (BS, BA and GL Postcodes). Its work primarily centres around grants to individuals, ho ...

in Bristol in 1898. In his private life he was a keen on motoring, rowing and golf. He died at his home, Cook's Folly in Stoke Bishop, on 26 September 1914 after an operation for appendicitis. He is interred in the family vault in the Redland Parish Churchyard, Bristol. He had married Eliza Lorenzo in 1874 and was succeeded by their son Frederick Herbert Ashman, who died shortly after him in 1916. His youngest daughter Mary Louise married the surgeon, Sir Percy Sargent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashmand, Herbert 1854 births 1914 deaths People from Yeovil Liberal Party (UK) councillors Politics of Bristol Mayors of Bristol Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English Baptists 19th-century Baptists 19th-century English businesspeople