Constituency Dates
Shaftesbury 1547
Dorset 1554 (Nov.), 1563
Family and Education
b. 2 Oct. 1519, s. of Henry Ashley of Wimborne St. Giles by Radigund, da. of Robert Gilbert of Witcombe, Som. m. Katherine, da. of Sir John Bassett of Umberleigh, Devon, 2s. inc. Henry. suc. fa. 1549. Kntd. 1553.
Offices Held

Dep. v.-adm. Dorset 1551 – 82, keeper of manor and forest of Holt 1555 – 66; j.p.q. Dorset from 1554, Wilts. from 1562, rem. c. 1586; sheriff, Som. and Dorset 1555 – 56, 1564 – 65; commr. piracy Dorset 1565, dep. lt. by 1577, col. of musters, Shaftesbury division 1587.

Address
Main residence: Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset.
biography text

A natural choice for a turn as knight of the shire, Ashley had one bill committed to him in the 1563 session, concerning the killing of crows and rooks, 27 Mar. He also served on the succession committee, 31 Oct. 1566, and was one of the 30 Members summoned on 5 Nov. 1566 to hear the Queen’s message on the succession. He died 27 Dec. 1588.1Genealogist, n.s. ii. 221; Hutchins, Dorset, iii. 594-5; Roberts thesis; EHR, xxiii. 741; HCA 25/1/2; Somerville, Duchy, i. 630; Lansd. 121, f. 66; APC, vii. 283; CSP Dom.1547-81, pp. 571, 582; R. Lloyd, Dorset Elizabethans, 16, 36, 89, 81, 169, 203; D’Ewes, 89, 126; Camb. Univ. Lib. Gg. iii. 34, p. 209; CJ, i. 71; Som. and Dorset N. and Q. ii. 50; C142/260/117.

Author
P.W.H.
Volume
Commons 1558-1603
Notes
  • 1. Genealogist, n.s. ii. 221; Hutchins, Dorset, iii. 594-5; Roberts thesis; EHR, xxiii. 741; HCA 25/1/2; Somerville, Duchy, i. 630; Lansd. 121, f. 66; APC, vii. 283; CSP Dom.1547-81, pp. 571, 582; R. Lloyd, Dorset Elizabethans, 16, 36, 89, 81, 169, 203; D’Ewes, 89, 126; Camb. Univ. Lib. Gg. iii. 34, p. 209; CJ, i. 71; Som. and Dorset N. and Q. ii. 50; C142/260/117.