James Henry Ashton

1819 -

• Name	James Henry Ashton
  Born	1819	Colchester, Essex, England
  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  (Age 83 years)
  Married	15 May 1853	Hanging Rock, NSW, Australia
  Children	1. James Ashton,   b. 1861, Ipswich, QLD, Australia ,   d. 1918  (Age 57 years)   2. Frederick Ashton,   b. 1866, Boorowa, NSW, Australia ,   d. 1941  (Age 75 years)
  Last Modified	27 Dec 2014
  Family ID	F2	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  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.