Thomas Ashton (died 29 August 1578,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

) was an English

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man and

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled afte ...

, the first headmaster of

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

Life

Identification

Ashton was originally identified with the Thomas Ashton who was educated at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1559–60, and M.A. in 1563 This man was elected a fellow of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in 1562 and entered holy orders. This was the accepted identity of the first head master of Shrewsbury School at the time his sketch was written by Thompson Cooper for the first edition of the '' Dictionary of National Biography'' (1885).Volume II, p.180, article by Thompson Cooper. However he was later identified with an earlier Thomas Ashton who graduated from St John's College, Cambridge as B.A. in 1520, M.A. in 1521 and B.Th. (Bachelor of Theology) in 1531. He was elected fellow of the college in 1520, of which he was still serving in 1542, and holding a benefice as a clergyman in the Diocese of Lincoln. This identification was accepted by 2004 when Martin E. Speight published his article on Ashton in the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''.Article by Martin E. Speight. He does not mention the earlier identification.

Shrewsbury School

In 1562 he was appointed the first head master of

. In April 1561, Bishop Bentham of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

had requested the Archbishop of Canterbury,

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...

, to license Ashton's non-residence at a parish living that was apparently away from Shrewsbury on the grounds restraining him would damage the progress of the school's foundation and that he was the only licensed preacher in the town.The article does not name the parish from which Ashton was absent. Ashton raised Shrewsbury to a high position: while he was headmaster, there were as many as 290 pupils at a time. Among his pupils were

Philip Sidney Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

and

Fulke Greville Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, ''de jure'' 13th Baron Latimer and 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke KB PC (; 3 October 1554 – 30 September 1628), known before 1621 as Sir Fulke Greville, was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman wh ...

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Ann ...

, in his ''Britannia'', remarked that "Shrewsbury is inhabited both by Welsh and English, who speak each other's language; and among other things greatly to their praise is the grammar school founded by them, the best filled in all England, whose flourishing state is owing to provision made by its head master, the excellent and worthy Thomas Ashton." The school drew pupils from sons of gentry in surrounding counties, the furthest being from Buckinghamshire and half the boys were boarded at homes in the town. At Whitsuntide 1568 a noble stage play, in which Ashton was the principal actor, was performed at Shrewsbury in connection with the school. It lasted all the holidays, and was attended by a large number of people, including several noblemen and many gentry residing in the neighbourhood. Soon afterwards, however, in the same year Ashton resigned the mastership of the school.

Post school headship career

From 1571, Ashton was in the service of

Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (16 September 1541 – 22 September 1576), was an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantations of Ireland, most notably the Rathlin Is ...

until the latter's death in 1576. He supervised Essex's affairs during absences from his English estates and was tutor to his son Robert. In 1573 he was appointed as clergyman to the living of

Haversham Haversham is a village in the City of Milton Keynes unitary authority area, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated to the north of (and separated by the River Great Ouse from) the Milton Keynes urban area, near Wolverton and about north of ...

, Buckinghamshire. About October 1574 he was sent to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to Essex, who despatched him to negotiate with Tyrlough Lynagh, and subsequently employed him in confidential communications with

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

and the Privy Council of England. Ashton returned to England in 1575. Essex's will left Ashton £40 a year for life, and he was one of the

feoffees Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use o ...

of the earl's estates. In his last year, Ashton returned to Shrewsbury, where he was engaged in drawing up the ordinances for the government of Shrewsbury School, which remained in force until 1798, giving the Shrewsbury borough bailiffs the power to appoint the school's masters, with St John's College having an academic veto. The 'godlie Father,' as he is styled in a contemporary manuscript, preached a farewell sermon to the inhabitants, then returned to Cambridge, in or near which town he died a fortnight later, in 1578.

References

Article by Thompson Cooper. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Thomas 16th-century English clergy 16th-century English educators 1578 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Schoolteachers from Cambridgeshire Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Headmasters of Shrewsbury School Year of birth missing