Sir Thomas de Assheton Knight

   Another name for Thomas was Sir Thomas Ashton Knight.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ⁵³⁵
Thomas de Ashton, captured the royal standard of Scotland at the battle of Durham, 17 Oct 1346.

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

• Background Information. ⁹³¹
Sir Robert Ashton was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas, who served in Parliament, 12 Richard II (22 June 1388-21 June 1389) as one of the Knights of Lancashire. His son and successor, Sir John, married Margaret, sister to Parkine de Legh.

~History and Description of the Town and Parish of Ashton-Under-Lyne, p. 14

• Background Information. ¹⁰¹¹
Sir Thomas Ashton, warrior, was the son and heir of Sir Robert de Ashton, and it is remarkable that, although the chief recorded event of his life shows him to have been a man of conspicuous military courage, he does not appear to have received the honour of knighthood, or to have been employed in any of the offices in which his father had distinguished himself. Whilst Edward III was fighting in France, David, king of Scotland, entered Northumberland with a force estimated at 50,000 men, and wasted and pillaged the country as far as Durham. Queen Philippa, the heroic wife of Edward III, marched against the invaders with a force of about 12,000, whom she encouraged to the unequal conflict. Battle was joined at Neville's Cross, near Durham, 17 Oct. 1346, and the result was a decisive victory for the English. Thomas de Ashton, who fought under Lord Neville, captured the royal standars of Scotland. Shortly after King David was made prisoner by John de Coupland, variously described as a Lancashire esquire and as a Northumberland gentleman, who was knighted when the king returned from France, but Ashton was still an esquire when, in 1385, he formed one of the retinue of John of Gaunt in his expedition to Spain.

By William Edward Armytage Axon,The Dictionary of National Biography, Volume II, 1885 edition, pp. 179-180

[Sources Cited: Baines's Lancashire; Rymer's Fœdera, vii. 490, xi. 28; Axon's Lancashire Gleanings.]