Sir Hubert Ashton (13 February 1898 – 17 June 1979) was an English first-class cricketer,

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and politician.

Biography

Early life

Ashton was born in Calcutta, India on 13 February 1898. Ashton's mother, Victoria Alexandrina Inglis, was the daughter of Sir

John Eardley Wilmot Inglis Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Sir John Eardley Wilmot Inglis (15 November 1814 – 27 September 1862) was a British Army officer, best known for his role in protecting the British compound for 87 days in the siege of Lucknow. Mil ...

, who commanded the British forces at the

Siege of Lucknow The siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British Residency within the city of Lucknow from rebel sepoys (Indian soldiers in the British East India Company's Army) during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief att ...

, and Julia Selina Thesiger. Ashton was educated at Winchester College; on leaving Winchester in 1916 he joined the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

and served for the rest of World War I. He was awarded the Military Cross "for conspicuous gallantry and skill in leading a section of guns into a forward position near Trones Wood on 27th August, 1918, where, under heavy shell and machine-gun fire, he succeeded in destroying an enemy strong point, thereby greatly facilitating the infantry advance." After the war he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge.

Cricket career

As a cricketer, Ashton was a sound right-hand batsman in the outstanding Cambridge University sides in the years just after the First World War, in which he had been commissioned in the

and won the Military Cross, and he played for Essex in the vacations. In both 1921 and 1922 he scored more than 1,000 runs and at the end of the 1922 season, after just three years in first-class cricket, Ashton was averaging more than 46 runs per innings. His most famous exploit, though, was as a member of the amateur side assembled by Archie MacLaren to take on the hitherto-invincible 1921 Australian cricket team at Eastbourne. Bowled out for just 43 runs in the first innings, the so-called "England XI" were, at 60 for four wickets in their second innings, still 71 behind when Ashton was joined by Aubrey Faulkner. Ashton hit 75 in 72 minutes, Faulkner made 153 and McLaren's side won the match by 28 runs. Ashton was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1922 largely on account of this innings. Ashton was involved in an extraordinary incident during the match against Lancashire. He was bowled, but both bails went up in the air and then returned to their grooves on top of the stumps, meaning that he was not out. Ashton's three brothers,

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

, Percy and

Claude Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

, also played first-class cricket; Gilbert, Hubert and Claude captained Cambridge University in the three consecutive seasons from 1921 to 1923. At the end of the 1922 cricket season Ashton joined the

Burmah Oil Company The Burmah Oil Company was a leading British oil company which was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 1966, Castrol was acquired by Burmah, which was renamed "Burmah-Castrol". BP Amoco (now BP) purchased the company in 2000. History ...

, and his appearances thereafter were sporadic. He played for India and for Burma against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) side led by

Arthur Gilligan Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan (23 December 1894 – 5 September 1976) was an English first-class cricketer who captained the England cricket team nine times in 1924 and 1925, winning four Test matches, losing four and drawing one. In fi ...

that toured India in 1926–27; he reappeared for several Essex matches in 1927; and there were a handful of first-class games across the 1930s, the last in 1939.

Football career

Ashton was also an accomplished

, playing as an amateur for all his footballing career, which began with the Corinthians and then, during the 1919–20 season, West Bromwich Albion. He made his only appearance in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in May 1925 for Bristol Rovers against Reading. He joined Clapton Orient in August 1926, making five appearances for them during the 1926–27 season, and then joined Gillingham in May 1927 but shortly afterwards retired from football to focus on his cricketing career.

Post-cricket and political career

Ashton later pursued a different career, first in cricket administration, as president of Essex from 1941, and then in national UK politics. He served as High Sheriff of Essex in 1943 and was then elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Chelmsford at the 1950 general elections and held the seat at three further UK general elections, before retiring in 1964. In the

1959 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1959 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

, Ashton was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) for political and public services, and it was as Sir Hubert Ashton that he became MCC president in 1960–61. Ashton died in South Weald, Essex on 17 June 1979.

Personal life

In 1927 Ashton married Dorothy Gaitskell, sister of

Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, h ...

. They had two sons and two daughters.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Hubert English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Essex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Rangoon Gymkhana cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I Royal Field Artillery officers Recipients of the Military Cross 1898 births 1979 deaths English footballers Corinthian F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 English Football League players High Sheriffs of Essex People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Burmah-Castrol Cricketers from Kolkata British sportsperson-politicians Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers Association football fullbacks English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers British people in colonial India Burmese cricket people Church Estates Commissioners Association football people awarded knighthoods Politicians awarded knighthoods