Sir Francis Ashley (24 November 1569 – 28 November 1635) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in theHouse of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1625.

Ashley was born atDamerham, the son of Sir Anthony Ashley of Damerham inWiltshire and his wife Dorothy Lyte, daughter of John Lyte ofLytes Cary,Somerset. At the age of 16, he enteredMagdalen College, Oxford, and graduated with BA on 5 June 1589. He went on to study law at theMiddle Temple where he wascalled to the bar in 1596.^[1] In 1610 he was appointedrecorder ofDorchester. He purchased the Old Friary on the north side of the town by theRiver Frome, where he made extensive alterations, and lived there with his family.^{[2][unreliable source?]}

In 1614, Ashley was electedMember of Parliament forDorchester. He became reader at theMiddle Temple in 1616. In 1617 he becameSerjeant-at-law and in the same year granted to Rev. Robert Cheeke, the master of theDorchester Free School and Rector ofAll Saints Church, Dorchester, all his "tithes of corne, grayne, hay, woole, lambes, oak etc belonging to the free chapel of Pudle Waterston". Ashley wasknighted on 5 July 1618. In 1621 he was re-elected MP for Dorchester but on 13 February 1621 resigned his place in favour ofSir Thomas Edmondes. However, Edmondes chose to sit elsewhere and Ashley was chosen again as MP for Dorchester on 9 Mar 1621.^{[3][unreliable source?]} He was greatly influenced by theRev. John White, rector ofHoly Trinity Church, Dorchester and St Peters, and with him and others invested in 1624 in theMassachusetts Bay Company, also known as the Dorchester Company.^[2]

Ashley was elected MP for Dorchester again in 1625. In Parliament, he strongly supported theroyal prerogative and was an active member and chairman of committees However, in his religious views he was sympathetic to thePuritan cause. He became King's Serjeant in 1625 and was very active at Dorchester sitting regularly at theQuarter Sessions from 1625 until his death. He was chosen as the judge for an extraordinary commission set up on 17 January 1627 when he condemned seven soldiers and a tapster to death forburglary although six soldiers were later pardoned. On 22 April 1628, he was imprisoned by theHouse of Lords for speaking against the liberty of the subject, but was released when he recanted and craved pardon. As King's Serjeant, he represented the Crown in various cases including the trial ofJohn Felton, the assassin ofGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. He suffered an attack ofpalsy in London on 7 January 1629 but recovered. In the newcharter granted to Dorchester on 22 September 1629, his appointment as recorder was confirmed. On 19 June 1630, he had to defend himself before theStar Chamber against accusations of aconspiracy againstThomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, theLord Keeper, who "scandalized him by saying he had taken a bribe of six hundred pounds".^[2]

Ashley's nephewAnthony Ashley Cooper had been left very extensive estates through the death of his father and grandfather and these were under the control of theCourt of Wards. Ashley was among the administrators of the estates and Cooper later accused these administrators of attempting to wrest some of his lands from him while he was still a minor and alaw of Court. Ashley, he singled out, almost certainly unfairly, as the worst and most avaricious offender who used his legal abilities and influences to obtain his ends through the Court of Wards. In one of these proceedings on 16 November 1635, Ashley was making a speech before the Court when his nephew uttered a prayer to be delivered from the lawyer's arguments and purposes. At this point, Ashley collapsed with a paralytic seizure with "his mouth drawn to his ear" and was carried out of the Court and never spoke again. He died 12 days later on 28 November 1635 at theSerjeant's Inn inFleet Street at the age of 66. His body was brought back to Dorchester and buried inSt Peter's Church, Dorchester.^[2]

Ashley married Anne Samways, the eldest daughter of Bernard (or Robert) Samways ofToller Fratrum and through her, he acquired lands and property atWinterborne St Martin although only after a lengthy lawsuit with SirFrancis Fulford, who married Anne's sister Elizabeth. Their only surviving child was Dorothy who marriedDenzil Holles on 4 June 1626.^[2]

• 1569 births
• 1635 deaths
• Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
• Members of the Middle Temple
• Members of the Parliament of England for Dorchester
• English MPs 1614
• English MPs 1621–1622
• English MPs 1625

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2022
• Use British English from March 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• All articles lacking reliable references
• Articles lacking reliable references from December 2021