Sir James Ashe, 2nd Baronet (27 July 1674 – 8 November 1733) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

baronet and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1701 to 1705.

Background

Ashe was the eldest surviving son of

Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet (16 February 1617 – 15 April 1686) was an England, English British Whig Party, Whig politician and merchant. He was born into a rising and prominent family of clothiers in Somerset, the third surviving son of Jame ...

and his wife Mary Wilson, daughter of Robert Wilson. In 1686, aged only eleven, he succeeded his father as baronet. Ashe owned land in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

and held shares of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Career

Ashe entered Parliament in 1701, sitting as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Downton, the constituency his father has represented before, until 1705. A year later, Ashe was appointed

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

. He stood for Downton again in 1708, however unsuccessfully.

Family

In 1698 against his mother's will, he married his cousin Elizabeth Bowyer, daughter of Sir Edmund Bowyer and had by her four daughters and a son. From 1709 they lived separately, but were not divorced. Ashe died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without a legally valid will, resulting in the distribution of their estate under statutory intestacy laws rather than by their expressed wishes. Alternatively this may also apply ...

at his seat at Twickenham Meadows and was buried at

St Margaret's Church, Halstead St Margaret's Church is an Anglican parish church in the village of Halstead and the Sevenoaks deanery, although the church also serves the village of Badgers Mount. St Katharine's and St Margaret's came together in 1983 as a United Benefice und ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. His son having predeceased him, the baronetcy became extinct with Ashe's death. His only surviving daughter, Martha, inherited his estate, and, as a condition of the succession, her husband Joseph Windham – who also eventually became MP for Downton – took on her surname of Ashe in addition to his own by Act of Parliament ( 7 Geo. 2. c. ''18'').Deed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1733 (7 Geo. 2). c. 18
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, James 1674 births 1733 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England High sheriffs of Wiltshire English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705