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James Henry Ashton

James Henry Ashton

Male 1819 -

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  • Name James Henry Ashton 
    Born 1819  Colchester, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Person ID I565  Kelly / Grayer
    Last Modified 22 Nov 2014 

    Family Elizabeth J Critchley,   b. 1836,   d. 10 Dec 1919, Orange, NSW, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 83 years) 
    Married 15 May 1853  Hanging Rock, NSW, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. James Ashton,   b. 1861, Ipswich, QLD, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1918  (Age 57 years)
     2. Frederick Ashton,   b. 1866, Boorowa, NSW, Australia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1941  (Age 75 years)
    Last Modified 27 Dec 2014 
    Family ID F2  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    James Henry Ashton
    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.