Sir Ralph Ashton, Kt.

Ralph was the son of Sir John and his second wife, Lady Margaret Byron. Ralph Ashton (b. 1425fl. between 1487 and 1490) married 2nd to Elizabeth Chicheley, her second husband.

In 6 Hnery VI, as appears by deed of trust to the Abbot of Whalley, his father exchanged the use of his son Ralph for 1000 marks from that Abbot. In 17 Henry VI, Ralph was a page to Henry VI, and the same year he married Margery, daughter of John Barton, of Middleton, Esquire, and heiress to her Uncle, Richard Barton, which came to Ralph de Ashton. He was Knight Marshal of England, Lieutenant of the Tower of London and Sheriff of Yorkshire in 12 and 13 Edward VI.

Family

From http://cybergata.com/roots/8259.htm

Sir Ralph and Margaret (Mary) had six sons and seven daughters:

• Richard
• Ralph, who married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Adam Lever, of Lever, in Lancashire.
• Thomas, a priest
• William
• Edmund
• John
• and three that died young.
• Mary, who married John Nasfield
• Phillipa, who married Thomas Cauton, Esq.
• Anne, married John Talbot, of Salisbury, 30 Hnery VI
• Lucy, married Richard Westhorpe
• Three other daughters, Elizabeth, Johanna and Agnes, died at an early age.

Biography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_de_Ashton

Ralph Ashton is mentioned in a passage which Dr. Hibbert-Ware has explained with much ingenuity, though not with absolute certainty. According to this, corn marigold (Chrysanthemun segetum) grew so extensively in the low wet land about Ashton as to be inimical to the crops, and the lord of the manor had an annual inspection and levied fines on those tenants on whose lands it was seen. This power, delegated to Ralph Ashton and his brother Robert, is said to have been made the pretext of such tyrannical exactions that on one of these visitations the tenants rose in desperation and the 'Black Knight' was slain. Others hold that it was whilst exercising in the northern parts his despotic powers as vice-constable that he excited the terror expressed in the legendary rhyme:—

Sweet Jesu, for thy mercy's sake And for thy bitter passion, Save us from the axe of the Tower, And from Sir Ralph of Ashton.

The effigy of the Black Knight is still paraded through the town of Ashton on Easter Monday.

Origins

From https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.houseofnames.com/ashton-family-crest

Early Origins of the Ashton family

The surname Ashton was first found in Lancashire, where they held a family seat originally at Assheton, originally known as Assheton-under-Lyne. [1]

The manor of Middleton has an extensive history dating back to the de Lacy family. It passed through Thomas Plantagenet and then "it would appear that the manor subsequently passed to the Kydales and the Bartons; and by the marriage of Sir Ralph Assheton, commonly called the " Black Knight of Ashton," with the last heiress of the Bartons, it was conveyed to the Assheton family.

Sir Ralph was successively knight-marshal, and vice-constable of England, the latter office having been conferred upon him for his gallant services under Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III.; and his devoted attachment to the house of York was rewarded by that sovereign with the grant of divers manors confiscated from the adherents of the house of Lancaster. His grandson, Sir Richard Assheton, was one of the heroes of Flodden-Field, and led to the attack in that memorable battle a body of Middleton bowmen, which formed part of the left wing under the command of Sir Edward Stanley; for his valour on the occasion, he received the honour of knighthood from Henry VIII., and various important privileges were conferred upon his manor of Middleton." [2]

"The manor [of Downham, Lancashire] is carried up to a period before the Conquest, when it was possessed by Aufray, or Alfred, a Saxon. It was granted by the Lacys to Ralph de Rous, and afterwards to Peter de Cestria; and by Henry, Duke of Lancaster, to John de Dyneley, a member of the Cliviger family. After the dissolution of Whalley Abbey, in which the fee vested, it was sold to Richard Assheton; and Downham Hall, existing in 1308, but rebuilt in 1775, became the seat of the Asshetons." [2]

Sir John de Ashton ( fl. 1370), was a military commander, the son of Thomas de Ashton, who had distinguished himself at the battle of Nevill's Cross. His son, Sir John de Ashton (d. 1428), was Seneschal of Bayeux. "He was one of forty-six esquires who were summoned to attend the grand coronation of Henry IV, in honour of which event they were solemnly admitted to the order of the Bath. He served in the parliament of 1413 as knight of the shire for Lancashire. " [3]

Sir Robert de Ashton (d. 1385), was a "civil, military, and naval officer under Edward III, was of the great northern family of Ashton or Assheton, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the county of Lancaster." [3]

His son, Thomas de Ashton (fl. 1346), was a "warrior, the son and heir of Sir Robert de Ashton, and it is remarkable that, although the chief recorded event of his life shows him to have been a man of conspicuous military courage, he does not appear to have received the honour of knighthood

Sources

• [Hibbert-Ware's Customs of a Manor in the North of England, Edinburgh, 1822, and again by the Chetham Society, vol. lxxiv.; Rymer's Fœdera, xi. 715, xii. 118, 205, 268; Axon's Lancashire Gleanings.]
• http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ashton,_Ralph_de_(DNB00)_
• A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies ...By John Burke. “Assheton, of Lever.” Page 19. GoogleBooks

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Sir Ralph de Ashton or Assheton (fl. 1421–1486), was an officer of state under Edward IV of England.

Early life

Ashton was the half-brother of Sir Thomas de Ashton (fl. 1446) the alchemist, and the son of the Ashton mentioned by Froissart (see Sir John de Ashton (fl. 1370)). His mother was Margaret, daughter of Sir John Byron of Clayton. In his seventeenth year he was one of the pages of honour to Henry VI, and at the same early age he married Margaret, the heiress of the Bartons of Middleton, and became the founder of the family that held the lordship there until the 18th century, when it passed by the female line to the holders of the Suffield peerage.[1] His grandson Richard Ashton rebuilt St Leonard's church at Middleton in 1524.[citation needed]

Offices

Ralph Ashton was a man of influence, and in the reign of Edward IV he held various offices.[2] He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1472, and for his courage at the capture of Berwick upon Tweed he was made a knight banneret at Hutton Field. When his commander, the Duke of Gloucester, became Richard III, he rewarded Sir Ralph's adhesion to the Yorkist cause by extensive grants of land. In 1483 he was appointed vice-constable of England and lieutenant of the Tower of London. The date of his death is unknown, but he is traditionally said to have been shot at Ashton-under-Lyne, and the yearly ceremony known as the "Riding of the Black Lad" is regarded as a commemoration of that event.[1] There is a very full rent-roll or custumal of the manor of Ashton in 1422, in which the various names and obligations of the tenants are set forth.[1]

Legacy

Ralph Ashton is mentioned in a passage which Dr. Hibbert-Ware has explained with much ingenuity, though not with absolute certainty. According to this, corn marigold (Chrysanthemun segetum) grew so extensively in the low wet land about Ashton as to be inimical to the crops, and the lord of the manor had an annual inspection and levied fines on those tenants on whose lands it was seen. This power, delegated to Ralph Ashton and his brother Robert, is said to have been made the pretext of such tyrannical exactions that on one of these visitations the tenants rose in desperation and the "Black Knight" was slain.[1] Others hold that it was whilst exercising in the northern parts his despotic powers as vice-constable that he excited the terror expressed in the legendary rhyme:—

Sweet Jesu, for thy mercy's sake And for thy bitter passion, Save us from the axe of the Tower, And from Sir Ralph of Ashton.[1] The effigy of the Black Knight is still paraded through the town of Ashton on Easter Monday.[1]

Notes[edit]

^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Axon 1885, p. 179. Jump up ^ Axon 1885, pp. 178–179.

References[edit]

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Axon, William Edward Armytage (1885). "Ashton, Ralph de". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 178–179.

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Sir Ralph Assheton, first called of Middleton. Page of Honour to Henry VI, Knight-Marshall of England, Lieut. of the Tower of London, and Sheriff of Yorkshire in the 12th and 13th years of the reign of Edward IV. In 1482, he was made Knight-Banneret on the field of battle at Hattonfield in Scotland. Later Vice-Constable of England, and rode in the procession for the coronation of Richard III. He acquired Middleton through his wife. + Margaret, dau and heiress of John Barton of Middleton and heiress of her uncle, Richard Barton. They had several children of whom we look only at the eldest two sons.

Sir Richard Assheton, eldest son, from whom the Asshetons of Middleton, now extinct.

Ralph Assheton, second son

In 1480 Sir Ralph Ashton of Fryton and Margery his wife granted land in Birtle and Middleton, &c. to his son Richard and Isabel his wife, daughter of John Talbot of Salebury. [Kuerden fol. MS. 39, no. 648; also 38, no. 635; Towneley, MS. HH, no. 2061]

~History of Lancaster, Vol. V, "Middleton," pp. 161-169 861

Ralph married Margaret Barton, daughter of John Barton esquire of Middleton and Margaret Byron, about 1439 in Middleton, Lancastershire, England 861,535.,862 (Margaret Barton was born about 1425 in Middleton, Lancastershire, England 861.)

Sir Ralph and Margaret (Mary) had six sons and seven daughter:

1. Richard
2. Ralph, who married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Adam Lever, of Lever, in Lancashire.
3. Thomas, a priest
4. William
5. Edmund
6. John
7. and three that died young.
8. Mary, who married John Nasfield
9. Phillipa, who married Thomas Cauton, Esq.
10. Anne, married John Talbot, of Salisbury, 30 Hnery VI
11. Lucy, married Richard Westhorpe
12. Three other daughters, Elizabeth, Johanna and Agnes, died at an early age.

~History and description of the town and parish of Ashton-Under-Lyne, pg. 18-19

Source: http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Sir_Ralph_de_Assheton_%281%29

References

• Ashton, Sir Ralph (c. 1425–1487) Rosemary Horrox https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/776 Extract Ashton, Sir Ralph (c. 1425–1487), soldier, was the son of Sir John Ashton (d. 1427) of Ashton under Lyne and his second wife, Margaret Gray, and hence half-brother of Sir Thomas Ashton (c. 1403–c. 1460), the alchemist, who in 1439 arranged Ralph's marriage with ...
• ” Historical Personography. The Map of Early Modern London. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed September 15, 2020. https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/historical_personography.htm.