Simeon Ashe or Ash (died 1662) was an English nonconformist clergyman, a member of the
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of Divinity (academic discipline), divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and ...
and chaplain to the Parliamentary leader
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, KG, KB, FRS (16025 May 1671) was an important commander of Parliamentary forces in the First English Civil War, and for a time Oliver Cromwell's superior.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Henry Mo ...
.
Life
He was educated at
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
. He began his career as minister in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, but was ejected from his living on account of his refusal to read the ''
Book of Sports
The ''Declaration of Sports'' (also known as the ''Book of Sports'') was a declaration of James I of England issued just for Lancashire in 1617, nationally in 1618, and reissued by Charles I in 1633. It listed the sports and recreations that were p ...
'' and to conform to other ceremonies. On his dismissal
Sir John Burgoyne befriended him and allowed him the use of an 'exempt' church at
Wroxhall; and he was afterwards under the protection of
Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke
Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke (May 1607 – 4 March 1643) was a radical Puritan activist and leading member of the opposition to Charles I of England prior to the outbreak of the First English Civil War in August 1642. Appointed Roundhead, Pa ...
. He was a regular Sunday preacher at
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...
, and friend of
Thomas Dugard.
When the
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...
broke out, he became chaplain to the Earl of Manchester. At the close of the war he received the living of
St. Austin, and was also one of the Cornhill lecturers. He was nominated to the Westminster assembly after the death in 1643 of
Josias Shute.
Although he had joined the side of the parliament, Ashe was strongly opposed to the extreme party of the Cromwellians; and when the time was ripe for the
English Restoration
The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...
he was among the divines who went to
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
to meet
Charles II of England
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...
. He died a few days before the passing of the
Act of Uniformity, and was buried on 24 August 1662. Had he lived to see the passing of the act, he would have vacated his living. Ashe was a man of some property, and while he held the living of St. Austin, his house was always open to his clerical brethren. Walker charges him with exercising severity against the conforming clergy.
Works
In 1644 he joined with William Goode, another chaplain of the Earl of Manchester, in writing a pamphlet entitled ''A particular Relation of the most Remarkable Occurrences from the United Forces in the North''. This was followed by another pamphlet, for which Ashe alone was responsible, entitled ''A True Relation of the most Chiefe Occurrences at and since the late Battell at Newbery''. The writer's object in both cases was to vindicate the conduct of his patron. In
John Vicars
John Vicars (1582, London – 12 April 1652, Christ's Hospital, Greyfriars, London) was an English contemporary biographer, poet and polemicist of the English Civil War. His best-known work is ''English Worthies'' or ''England's Worthies'', whose ...
's ''Parliamentary Chronicle'' there is a letter of his, describing the proceedings of the Earl of Manchester in reducing several garrisons after the
battle of Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 – 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters und ...
.
Ashe was the author of sermons, including
* 'A Sermon on Ps. ix. 9,' preached before the House of Commons on 30 March 1642.
* 'A Sermon before the House of Lords,' 26 Feb. 1644.
* 'A Funeral Sermon on the Death of the Countess of Manchester,' 12 Oct. 1658, &c.
He also edited some treatises of
John Ball,
John Brinsley,
Ralph Robinson, and others.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, Simeon
Year of birth missing
1662 deaths
17th-century English Anglican priests
Westminster Divines
English Caroline nonconforming clergy
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge