John Ashe (23 October 1597– 9 February 1659) was an English clothier and 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. ...

at various times between 1640 and 1659.

Life

Ashe was the son of James Ashe of Westcombe, Somerset and his wife Grace Pitt, daughter of Richard Pitt of Melcombe Regis.John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain, Volume 2''
/ref> He entered the cloth trade and became on the "greatest clothier in his time".Eric Kerridge ''Textile Manufactures in Early Modern England''
/ref> He came to the attention of the church authorities in the 1630s, associated with the "Beckington riots" against

Alexander Huish Alexander Huish (1594?–1668) was an English cleric, academic and biblical scholar. Life He was the son of John Hewish or Huish, born in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, Somerset, Wells, Somerset, in 1594 or 1595. He entered Magdalen Hall, Oxf ...

, and the distribution of Puritan literature. He spent time in jail as an opponent of the ritualist side of

Laudianism Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism in favour of free will, ...

. In fact Ashe was important in distributing widely the ''News from Ipswitch'' of

William Prynne William Prynne (1600 – 24 October 1669), an English lawyer, voluble author, polemicist and political figure, was a prominent Puritan opponent of church policy under William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (1633–1645). His views were presbyte ...

, with Rice Boye. In April 1640, Ashe was elected

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 ...

for Westbury in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was re-elected MP for Westbury for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in November 1640. During the Commonwealth, Ashe received much favour from

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

, but could not be persuaded to be one of the king's judges. Ashe pioneered new techniques in textile manufacturing and in 1650 brought Dutch technicians to Freshford to teach new methods to perfect the Spanish warp. By this innovation, the amount of cloth produced from an amount of wool was doubled, and Ashe profited accordingly. He was elected MP for

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_ ...

in 1654 for the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Hou ...

and in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

. On 19 January 1657, John Ashe proposed an amendment to the Speaker's debate congratulating Cromwell on surviving an assassination attempt and adding a hope that Cromwell "take upon him the government according to the ancient constitution", by which he intended the Crown. In 1658 he was elected MP for Heytesbury to the Third Protectorate Parliament. Ashe died at the age of 61 leaving a landed estate valued at £6000 a year.

Family

Ashe married Elizabeth Davison, daughter of Henry Davison of Freshford and his wife Anne Chivers of Quemerford, Wiltshire, and had a family. He was the brother of Edward Ashe MP for Heytesbury. His daughter Grace married the clothier Paul Methuen (1613–1667).

References

External links

Ashe Family
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, John 1597 births 1658 deaths English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653 English MPs 1654–1655