Family and Education

b. 21 May 1679, 1st s. of John Ashburnham†, 1st Baron Ashburnham.  m. 16 Oct. 1705, Catherine (d. 1710), da. and event. h. of Thomas Taylor of Clapham, Beds. s.p.  suc. fa. as 2nd Lord Ashburnham 21 Jan. 1710.

Offices Held

Biography

Ashburnham, having recently come of age, was put up at Hastings by his father in the election of November 1701, though it was to Lord Ashburnham’s immense chagrin that his interest in the town was of too little consequence at this particular time to forestall the election of a Whig outsider. On standing again, however, in 1702, and with political circumstances favouring the Tories, Ashburnham was returned unopposed, as he was to be during the next two elections. Only once did he perform any substantive task in proceedings, on 7 Dec. 1703, when he served as teller in favour of passing the occasional conformity bill. But though forecast at the end of October 1704 as likely to support the Tack, he either voted against it or was absent from the crucial division on 28 Nov., an indication of a vein of moderation in his Toryism. Notwithstanding, he featured as a ‘Churchman’ in an analysis of the House after the 1705 election. At the opening of the new Parliament on 25 Oct. 1705 he voted against the Court candidate for the Speakership. An analysis of the House produced early in 1708 notes him as a Tory, while another from around the same date indicates that he was also seen as a friend of the Court. In January 1710 he vacated his seat on succeeding his father to the Ashburnham barony. In June, however, he succumbed to smallpox and died on the 16th. He was buried at Ashburnham and just a month later was followed to the grave by his wife.1

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Andrew A. Hanham

Notes

• 1. Luttrell, Brief Relation, vi. 592.