Transcript

of

John Ashley, J.P. [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. XXXIV, (1902), p. 34.

by

J. Brooking-Rowe (ed.).

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1902 Bideford meeting. John Ashley Esq’s name appears in the list of Mayors of Honiton for 1863-4 and there is considerable evidence of Mr Ashley’s standing in the Honiton community of his day. The Ashley family is particularly associated with a water garden and woodland park in Honiton named The Glen. A history of the park, now owned and maintained by the East Devon District Council, is available from The Friends of the Glen website. A substantial area now known as The Higher Glen is understood to have been landscaped with paths, bridges and seats at a cost of several hundred pounds by the Ashley family who had probably purchased the Pine Park Estate in 1884. A poem referring to 'The Glen' and dedicated to the Ashley family dates from 1894. It is believed that The Higher Glen was initially referred to as the Ashley Plantation. Mr Ashley’s obituary, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

John Ashley, J.P., of Honiton, died in December, 1901. He had carried on a successful business in the town for upwards of sixty years, in partnership with his brother Edward, who survived him only three months. He was an old member, having been elected so long ago as 1868, and assisted in warmly welcoming the Association on both its visits to Honiton, in 1868 and 1898.