James Henry Ashton

Notes:

James Ashton (1861-1918) and Frederick Ashton (1866-1941), circus proprietors, were sons of James Henry Ashton and his second wife Elizabeth, n?e Critchley. Their father, whose real name may have been Wild, was reputedly a clog-dancer and circus performer from Colchester, Essex, England, who had arrived in Australia in the 1840s. After success as a 'bold and fearless' equestrian at Radford's Amphitheatre, Hobart Town, in 1848-49 and at Port Phillip, he performed at John Malcolm's Amphitheatre, Sydney, in September 1851 and later at J. S. Noble's Olympic Circus. His first wife Mary died aged 19 at Maitland in 1852, and next year at Hanging Rock, near Tamworth, he married Elizabeth Critchley. By May 1854 he had formed Ashton's Royal Olympic Circus and for the next thirty-five years he toured eastern Australia with his variously grandly titled circus. He was in South Australia in 1865, but his name became a household word especially in the country areas of New South Wales and in Queensland as far north as Rockhampton. He acquired a reputation for developing Australian talent: the Wirth family joined his troupe for a time, and he often featured Aboriginal performers such as the acrobatic rider Mungo Mungo.

James married Elizabeth J Critchley on 15 May 1853 in Hanging Rock, NSW, Australia. Elizabeth (daughter of William C Critchley and Catherine Murphy) was born in 1836; died on 10 Dec 1919 in Orange, NSW, Australia. [Group Sheet]

1. James Ashton was born in 1861 in Ipswich, QLD, Australia; died in 1918.
2. Frederick Ashton was born in 1866 in Boorowa, NSW, Australia; died in 1941.