Papers Of The Ashton Family of Hyde And Ford Bank, Didsbury.
1839-1971
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Papers of Thomas Ashton 1839-1898).; Papers of Elizabeth Ashton 1853-1898; Papers of Elizabeth Marion Ashton 1874-1908.; Newspaper Cuttings 1866-1899; Photographs 1880, 1908.; Family Tree.ca 1971
Place:/Hyde/Stockport/Cheshire/England
/Didsbury/Lancashire/England
Title:
Papers Of The Ashton Family of Hyde And Ford Bank, Didsbury.
Date of work:
1839-1971
Reference number:
GB127.M107
Level of description:
Fonds
Custodial history:
Thomas Ashton, first mayor of Hyde, was one of a family of cotton spinners and merchants, who won acclaim by keeping their mills working during the cotton famine. He was a leading member of the Liberal party in the Manchester area, but declined several times to stand for Parliament. He was also a prominent Unitarian and built a new church at Flowery Field, Hyde, in 1878. His work for the extension of Owens College transformed it from. a local into a national University. He was rewarded for this work by being made a honorary LL.D. in 1895. He was a J.P. from 1851 and in 1883 became Sheriff of Lancashire In 1882 he declined a baronetcy, but became a freeman of the City of Manchester in 1892. He married Elizabeth Gair, a member of an old Boston family in 1852.
Thomas Ashton's children inherited their father's public spirit. His eldest son, Thomas Gair Ashton, became first M.P. for Hyde in 1885 and M.P. for Luton in 1895, and his youngest son, William Mark Ashton, was a J.P. and councillor for Hyde. His second daughter, Elizabeth Marion, married James Bryce, who in 1906 became British Ambassador to America, while his third daughter, Margaret Ashton, was a champion of women's suffrage and Manchester's first woman councillor.
Source:
The papers were donated to the Library in Feb. 1971, by Miss Margery Bryce of Henley on Thames, niece of James, Viscount Bryce.
Access restrictions:
Unrestricted
Use restrictions:
Unrestricted
Record types:
COLLECTION
Language:
English
Record number:
7189380
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Total copies: 1