Author: Ashley, John
Biography:
ASHLEY, John (1764-1838: ancestry.co.uk)
Although they were both musicians, he is not to be confused with John James Ashley (1771-1815), a celebrated singing master and organist in London. No family connection between the two has been identified. John Ashley was born in Swainswick, Somerset, to Joseph and Hannah Ashley. His brother was Josiah (1756-1814); he was also a musician and is said to have taught his younger brother. Ashley was a composer, vocalist, and music seller with premises in Wade’s Passage, Bath; records indicate that his business went bankrupt at least once. The subscription list to his Trifles in Rhyme makes clear his extensive connections with musical theatre and composers both in Bath and in London. He seems not to have married. On 23 June 1802 he was initiated into the Freemasonry Lodge of Perfect Friendship in Bath. His date of death is not known but he was buried on 4 Apr. 1838 at the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Bath. At the time of his death he was living in an almshouse. (ancestry.co.uk 28 June 2022; Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser 31 Oct. 1814; C. Humphries & W. C. Smith, Music Publishing in the British Isles [1970]; A Dictionary of Musicians from the Earliest Ages [1825]) SR