Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet (16 February 1617 – 15 April 1686) 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 ...

Whig politician and merchant. He was born into a rising and prominent family of industrialists from

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_ ...

, and was the third surviving son of James Ashe Esquire and his wife Grace Pitt, daughter of Richard Pitt. In London, Joseph took up his father's profession as a clothier to great success, and married Mary Wilson, the daughter of a local draper, later raising with her seven daughters and two sons. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, his brother in Parliament

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

was chairman of the committee responsible for confiscating Royalist estates, while Joseph himself was arrested on a charge of corresponding with the enemy, and may have been involved in an ordeal afterwards of funds being transferred to Charles II's exiled court in Antwerp. Nonetheless, he succeeded in avoiding further punishment, and during the final years of the Protectorate government, purchased the estate of

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- ...

in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, now known as Cambridge Park, where his family would remain for nearly a century. After the monarchy was restored, Joseph was called as a juryman in the regicide trials, where he was unsuccessfully challenged by the defence. On 19 September 1660, he was made a baronet of Twickenham for his earlier assistance to the Crown. His career in Parliament began in 1661 when he ran 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 ...

during the minority of his cousin William Ashe, and lost. He would return in 1670, successfully winning for the constituency of Downton, where he had leased a manor from the bishop of Winchester. His tenure lasted until 1685. In addition to his estate in Twickenham, Sir Joseph also bought and refurbished property in other places such as Wayne, rarely inhabiting houses that he built up and owned as investment. In 1673, he founded the small grammar school of Burgh Manor in Downton which he later donated to be free. While probably disapproving 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 ...

early in his parliamentary career, he later became one of its largest investors, with his widow and trustees holding in it a total of £10,000 of stock. Sir Joseph is reported to have died "very rich" on 15 April 1686, and was buried at Twickenham Church, recognized as a "great benefactor" of the parish. His surviving son

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

succeeded him in his baronetcy at 12 years old, later serving in Parliament for Downton from 1701 to 1705. His two daughters were bequeathed £7,000 each and his sons-in-law, William Windham and Sir Horatio Townshend, each received £100 in mourning.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, Sir Joseph, 1st Baronet 1617 births 1686 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England People from Twickenham English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 17th-century English businesspeople