Sir Ralph Assheton Knight & Sheriff of Yorkshire

  General Notes:

~History of Lancaster, Vol. V, "Middleton," pp. 161-169, By 1480 the greater part of the Middleton estate was held by Sir Ralph Ashton and Margery his wife. ⁸⁶¹

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ⁵³⁵
Sir Ralph Assheton was a page of honor to King Henry VI. He married Margaret, daughter of John Barton, esquire of Middleton, Lancashire. Margaret was heir to her uncle, Richard Barton, and became the proprietor of that estate.

Ralph Assheton was knight marshal of England, lieutenant of the Tower of London, and sheriff of Yorkshire in 12 and 13 Edward IV. In 24 Henry IV, and 1482, he was made knight bannert at Hatton field, in Scotland. He was later appointed vice-constable of England, with the authority of constable. He has been named to have been amongst the knight who rode in procession at the coronation of Richard III, and he died soon after. He had, along with other children, two sons:

Sir Richard Ashton, his heir

Sir Ralph Ashton, who married Margaret, daughter and heir of Adam Lever and acquired the Lever lordship.

~Burke's A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, pg. 20

• Background Information. ⁹³¹
Ralph was the son of Sir John and his second wife, Lady Margaret Byron. In 6 Hnery VI, as appears by dded of trust to the Abbot of Whalley, his father exchanged the use of his son Ralph for 1000 marks from that Abbot. In 17 Henry VI, Ralph was a page to Henry VI, and the same year he married Margery, daughter of John Barton, of Middleton, Esquire, and heiress to her Uncle, Richard Barton, which came to Ralph de Ashton. He was Knight Marshal of England, Lieutenant of the Tower of London and Sheriff of Yorkshire in 12 and 13 Edward VI.

Sir Ralph and Margaret (Mary) had six sons and seven daughter:

Richard
Ralph, who married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Adam Lever, of Lever, in Lancashire.
Thomas, a priest
William
Edmund
John
and three that died young.
Mary, who married John Nasfield
Phillipa, who married Thomas Cauton, Esq.
Anne, married John Talbot, of Salisbury, 30 Hnery VI
Lucy, married Richard Westhorpe
Three other daughters, Elizabeth, Johanna and Agnes, died at an early age.

~History and description of the town and parish of Ashton-Under-Lyne, pg. 18-19

• Records and Notes.
In 1480 Sir Ralph Ashton of Fryton and Margery his wife granted land in Birtle and Middleton, &c. to his son Richard and Isabel his wife, daughter of John Talbot of Salebury. [Kuerden fol. MS. 39, no. 648; also 38, no. 635; Towneley, MS. HH, no. 2061]

~History of Lancaster, Vol. V, "Middleton," pp. 161-169 ⁸⁶¹

Ralph married Margaret Barton, daughter of John Barton esquire of Middleton and Margaret Byron, about 1439 in Middleton, Lancastershire, England ^861,535.^,862 (Margaret Barton was born about 1425 in Middleton, Lancastershire, England ⁸⁶¹.)