Pierce A'Court Ashe (c. 1707–1768), of Ivy Church and Heytesbury, Wiltshire, was a British 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 1734 to 1768. A'Court was the eldest son of

Pierce A'Court Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, West ...

, MP, of Ivy Church and his wife Elizabeth Ashe, daughter of William Ashe, MP, of Heytesbury, Wiltshire. His younger brother was

William Ashe-à Court General William Ashe-à Court (''c.'' 1708 – 2 August 1781) was a senior British Army officer and a Member of Parliament. Born William à Court, he was the son of Pierce à Court, MP and Elizabeth Ashe of Ivy Church, Wiltshire. His older both ...

, also an MP. He succeeded to his father’s estates on 13 April 1725. He matriculated at

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 17 July 1725, aged 18. At unknown date, he married Janet Brown, daughter of Colonel Robert Brown. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

, A'Court was brought in unopposed as a Whig

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

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 neigh ...

on the family interest by his uncle Edward Ashe. He voted for the Administration in all recorded divisions. In July 1739, he was appointed Equerry to the King. He was returned unopposed again in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

and

1747 Events January–March * January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. * February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coul ...

. In 1750 he succeeded to the estates of his cousin William Ashe, MP and acquired the electoral interest for the borough. He then took the additional name of Ashe. In the summer of 1753 he was granted a pension of £500 p.a. from the secret service fund, which he sometimes did not trouble to draw. A'Court Ashe was returned for Heytesbury in a contest at the

1754 British general election The 1754 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Owing to the exten ...

and was listed for the Government. He was returned unopposed again at the

1761 British general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. This was the first P ...

, His pension ceased in 1762 when he and his brother William A’Court remained with Newcastle in opposition. He did not stand in

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...

. A'Court Ashe died without issue on 6 September 1768, as a result of

variolation Variolation was the method of inoculation first used to immunize individuals against smallpox (''Variola'') with material taken from a patient or a recently variolated individual, in the hope that a mild, but protective, infection would result. Var ...

for

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

References

{{Authority control 1700s births 1768 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Wiltshire British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Deaths from smallpox