Sir James Ashe, 2nd Baronet (27 July 1674 – 8 November 1733) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

baronet and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1701 to 1705.

Background

Ashe was the eldest surviving son of

Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet (16 February 1617 – 15 April 1686) was an English Whig politician and merchant. He was born into a rising and prominent family of industrialists from Somerset, and was the third surviving son of James Ashe Esquir ...

and his wife Mary Wilson, daughter of Robert Wilson. In 1686, aged only eleven, he succeeded his father as baronet. Ashe owned land in

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 ...

and held shares of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Career

Ashe entered Parliament in 1701, sitting as a

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 of ...

(MP) for Downton, the constituency his father has represented before, until 1705. A year later, Ashe was appointed

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gov ...

. He stood for Downton again in 1708, however unsuccessfully.

Family

In 1698 against his mother's will, he married his cousin Elizabeth Bowyer, daughter of Sir Edmund Bowyer and had by her four daughters and a son. From 1709 they lived separately, but were not divorced. Ashe died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...

at his seat at

Twickenham Meadows Twickenham Meadows, later known as Cambridge Park, was a 74-acre estate, the second largest estate in Twickenham, England, after Twickenham Park. It has now been built over and the name remains for a part of Twickenham in optional – station- ...

and was buried at St Margaret's Church, Halstead,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. His son having predeceased him, the baronetcy became extinct with Ashe's death. His only surviving daughter, Martha, inherited his estate, and, as a condition of the succession, her husband Joseph Windham – who also eventually became MP for Downton – took on her surname of Ashe in addition to his own by Act of Parliament.Deed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1733 (7 Geo. 2). c. 18
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, James 1674 births 1733 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England High Sheriffs of Wiltshire English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705