Author: Aston, Joseph
Biography:
ASTON, Joseph (1762-1844: ODNB)
Journalist, publisher, and playwright, he was baptised on 26 Dec. 1762 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire; his parents were Martha and William Aston. William Aston was a gunsmith and initially Joseph went into the same line of work and opened a gun shop in Leeds in about 1790. On 17 Oct. 1790 he married Elizabeth Preston in York; they had at least two and possibly four children. Aston contributed articles to the Manchester Herald until it ceased publication in 1793. In 1803 he opened a stationer’s shop at 84 Deansgate, Manchester. In 1808 he moved from there to the Exchange in Manchester; his business included a circulating library. He was the publisher and editor of the Manchester Evening Herald (1809-25), a conservative newspaper. Aston was associated with the theatre and wrote three plays: Conscience (1813), Retributive Justice (1813), and A Family Story (1814). Most of his other publications relate to Manchester and include The Manchester Guide (1804), The Lancashire Gazetteer (1808), and A Picture of Manchester (1826). He was a friend of the poet and journalist James Montgomery (q.v.) who consulted him on his poetry manuscripts. Aston died at Chadderton Hall, near Oldham in Lancashire on 19 Oct. 1844; he was buried at Tonge. (ODNB 27 Sept. 2022; ancestry.co.uk 27 Sept. 2022; WorldCat) SR